Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East and the war in Ukraine, chief negotiator Steve Witkoff, has assumed point by point all of Vladimir Putin's theses on the war in Ukraine. Those that explain the beginning as a reaction over a decade ago to the NATO threat. Those that say it is not about imperial ambition, a nearly religious obsession with the USSR's past, or an attempt to weaken, destabilize, and break the EU, but to recover "Russophone" territories that would have voted "overwhelmingly to be under Moscow's control," something Kiev does not allow.
Those that say Russia is clearly winning and has thousands of Ukrainian soldiers surrounded in the Kursk area. And of course, those that conclude that the only way to have a just and lasting peace involves giving up territories or the security guarantee that would come with joining the Atlantic Alliance.
Witkoff made this very clear on Friday night in an interview with the Russian journalist and propagandist Tucker Carlson, a friend of Trump and his family, a former Fox News star who has visited Moscow several times in the last year and a half, including an exclusive interview with Putin.
The conversation is essential to understand how a real estate businessman with no diplomatic experience, a total lack of knowledge of geopolitics in general, and the war in Ukraine in particular sees things, but who has the absolute trust of the president, who believes that to resolve such important issues, a closer, a business shark is needed to close deals, even if they involve forever altering the lives of millions of people with arbitrary demarcations or for reasons unrelated to reality.
It all starts with an idea: Russia and Putin respect Trump and the US, while Ukraine does not. From there, everything else follows. "Putin has great respect for the president. And, as you know, you saw what happened in the Oval Office with Zelensky and the president... disrespecting him is not a good way to have a good relationship," he said last night. He then stated that one of the main elements is that territories like Kursk are Russian... because Russia has conquered them, like "the so-called four regions: Donbass, Crimea. You already know the names... Lugansk, as Carlson prompted using the Russian name and not the Ukrainian one, "and there are two others, which are Russian-speaking. Referendums have been held in which the overwhelming majority of people have indicated they want to be under Russian rule," he added, without even remembering the names of the occupied areas. And buying into the lie that people voted overwhelmingly in referendums without any kind of guarantee or recognition.
The entire Kremlin's version and the admiration - and even gratitude - towards Putin for sitting down with him. "And it's as if no one wants to talk about it. That's the elephant in the room, that there are constitutional problems in Ukraine [or Russia] about what they can give up in terms of territory. The Russians de facto control these territories." The question is "whether they will be, whether the world will recognize these as Russian territories. Will Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges it? This is the central issue of the conflict. Without a doubt. Regarding NATO, I think Zelensky, and his right-hand man, Yermak, have largely admitted they will not be NATO members. There has been much discussion about whether they could still have, in quotes, the protection of Article 5, which grants all NATO countries this protection, and if Ukraine could have it, in some sense, from the US or European nations without being a NATO member. And I think that is open to debate," he admitted in almost the only concession to the invaded's red lines and not the invader's.
In the interview, Wirkoff, whom Carlson introduces as "the most important diplomat in a generation," reaches the climax by explaining and assuming as true and a sign of sincerity and commitment that Putin told him that the day Trump was targeted in an assassination attempt that nearly cost him his life, last July at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, he "went to a nearby church, spoke with a priest, and prayed for Trump". Not so he could become president, "but because he is his friend." And that he told this to his president, and the American was "clearly touched" by the gesture and by the "beautiful portrait" of Trump that the Russian president commissioned from "a prominent Russian artist" and that has arrived in Washington as a gift.
"Can you imagine sitting there listening to this kind of conversation?" says the US negotiator with emotion about the meeting with his rival and main enemy in the last seven decades.
Trump and his circle are convinced that a true and deep "friendship" unites them with Putin. That "they know him well, very well." "I don't consider Putin a bad guy. It's a complicated situation, that war and all the factors that caused it. It's never about one person, right?" he said last night. They argue that he is a "genius" or a "strong leader" and that they know what he thought before and now, and therefore they can affirm that he wants peace and above all, that he never had nor still has an interest in conquering all of Ukraine or threatening European countries.
"I think it's a combination of posture and pose, and also of simplism," says Trump's negotiator about European countries and their announcement that they are willing to send troops after a peace agreement to offer guarantees, a peacekeeping contingent, something that the interviewer and the interviewee mock. "I think there is this idea that we all have to be like Winston Churchill: 'The Russians are going to march through Europe.' I find it absurd. By the way, we have something called NATO, something we didn't have in World War II," says Witkoff.
"The Russians don't want to march through Europe, 100% sure. "First of all, why would they want to absorb Ukraine? For what purpose, exactly? They don't need to absorb Ukraine. That would be like occupying Gaza. Why do the Israelis really want to occupy Gaza for life? No. They want stability there, something they don't want to deal with. But the Russians also have what they want. They have recovered these five regions. They have Crimea, and they have achieved what they wanted. So, why do they need more?" he says in one of the most cynical or ignorant displays in recent diplomatic history.
In perhaps the most striking part of the interview, Witkoff says that he personally "liked" Putin in the two meetings they have had and believes he is being sincere. "Bill Clinton said that. George W. Bush said that. Barack Obama said that. All the world leaders I've spoken to say that, even if they don't agree with what Russia does or anything, Putin is a straightforward guy," he stated. "Before, only the smartest people in the country entered the KGB. Those were the ones who entered the KGB. He's a super smart guy."
In the final part of the conversation, Witkoff stated that Kiev has agreed to hold elections, something its constitution prohibits in situations like the current one, with war and martial law. "They have agreed. There will be elections in Ukraine, and I agree with you. I think Zelensky is doing everything he can. I think he is in a very, very difficult position. But he is facing a nuclear nation," he pointed out.
And he envisions a bright future where Washington and Moscow cooperate and collaborate, even in the Arctic. "Who wouldn't want a world where Russia and the United States work together to achieve good results? We are thinking about how to integrate their energy policies in the Arctic. Sharing maritime routes, perhaps sending gas to Europe together, maybe collaborating on AI. If we can overcome technological migration, who wouldn't want a world like that? What if presidents could talk to each other about Iran, where Russia has a certain degree of influence? I mean, who wouldn't want a world like that? To me, it's logical," he concluded.