Donald Trump defended Steve Witkoff’s role in efforts to end the war in Ukraine and dispatched him to Moscow for more talks next week, as he brushed off leaked transcripts that appeared to show his envoy advising a Kremlin official on how to court the White House.
Speaking on board Air Force One late on Tuesday, Trump described as “standard negotiations” a leaked October call between Witkoff and Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, in which the American referred to a need for Ukraine to give up Donetsk province in any peace deal, crossing a long-standing red line for Kyiv.
“He’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what a dealmaker does,” Trump said of Witkoff, whom he said was set to go next week to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, possibly along with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.