Trump administration displeased with special envoy Witkoff - New York Post

Witkoff used Kremlin interpreters

Witkoff, who has become Trump's de facto personal ambassador to Russian President Vladimir Putin in addition to handling Middle East affairs, participates in high-level meetings alone.

"And he is said to have even occasionally leaned on Kremlin translators — in a break with longstanding diplomatic procedure," multiple sources told New York Post.

Witkoff meets with Putin alone

On the eve of Witkoff's last meeting with Putin last Friday, he greeted the Kremlin chief as an old friend, without any hint of the usual circle of advisers, experts, and military officers who usually accompany US officials on negotiations.

"Putin himself did not attend Friday’s meeting solo, but was instead accompanied by aide Yury Ushakov and the head of Moscow’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev," the article says.

One member of Trump's first administration was quite laconic when discussing this approach of Witkoff.

"Nice guy, but a bumbling f–king idiot. He should not be doing this alone," he said.

Others fear that Witkoff is being given too much of a role.

"How does Witkoff divide his time with two very demanding negotiations?" says Israeli security expert and Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies fellow Danny Citrinowicz. "I think he’s a good guy, but the Iran issue is so complex that I’m hoping he is bringing more people to the team."

Witkoff and Kellogg's role

When Trump took office on January 20, he already had a special envoy for Russia's war against Ukraine - retired Army Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, an adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence during Trump's first term.

However, in mid-March, Kellogg's title was changed from special envoy for Ukraine and Russia to special envoy for Ukraine.

Witkoff, meanwhile, was appointed ambassador-at-large and given the authority to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine with Moscow, but not with Kyiv, which remained Kellogg's area of expertise.

Kellogg's work, as the agency states, proved fruitful: he got Kyiv to sign the proposed ceasefire and worked out the expected mineral rights agreement with the Trump administration.

But having separate negotiators on each side proved difficult to balance.

"A challenge with the way President Trump split responsibilities between Witkoff and Kellogg is that Witkoff, who is closer to Trump, relays the Kremlin’s view to Trump but has much more limited exposure to Kyiv’s views," the journalists note.

Republicans are unhappy with Witkoff

As RBC-Ukraine previously reported, Steve Witkoff's position raises more and more questions. It has gotten to the point where Republicans are not averse to removing him from office.

Before that, Reuters wrote about several of his mistakes. For example, Witkoff invited Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who is under US sanctions after Russia's invasion, to his residence for dinner before a meeting at the White House.

Republicans there are also unhappy that the Trump administration has turned too sharply toward Moscow.

The fact that Witkoff has failed to convince Putin and continues to demand four regions of Ukraine in the context of negotiations with the US and Ukraine does not add to his favor.