U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff drew ire online for his comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin—chiefly that he would “take him at his word” as talks for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine continue in their ongoing war.
Newsweek reached out to the White House by email on Sunday afternoon for comment.
Why It Matters
Witkoff has emerged as one of the main players in the Trump administration’s negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, and recently traveled to Moscow to meet with Putin.
Ukraine and its European backers have watched on with deepening concern over the thawing of relations between Washington and Moscow. There are pressing questions concerning the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) eastern flank and among senior Ukrainian officials about how a Trump-brokered ceasefire deal to end the more than three years of war could come at the expense of Kyiv and endanger regional security.
Russian and Ukrainian officials have met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in recent weeks to discuss the contours of a peace deal. Putin agreed on Tuesday to a limited ceasefire during a call with President Donald Trump, mainly excluding infrastructure targets, according to a Russian readout of the call.
What To Know
Witkoff sat down for two high-profile interviews that aired over the past few days—first an interview with Tucker Carlson for his podcast, and then an interview for Fox News Sunday with anchor Shannon Bream.
Witkoff had already drawn some backlash for seeming to use Russian talking points to justify the argument that Ukraine may need to relinquish the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions—the first two taken at the start of the February 2022 invasion and the latter two taken subsequently during the war. All of this is subsequent to Moscow invading Crimea in 2014 and holding it to this day.
In his interview with Carlson, Witkoff cited referendums held in those regions after their capture in which they said they wanted to be under Russian control—referendums the U.S. and Western allies have condemned as illegitimate. He also said that they are “Russian-speaking” regions in which Russia has “de facto control.”
He doubled down on his position during his Fox News Sunday interview, telling Bream that Russia views these areas as Russian territory and the referendums “justify these actions.”
“I just don’t see that he [Putin] wants to take all of Europe…I take him at his word in this sense, and I believe the Europeans are beginning to come to that belief, too,” he said.
“This is not me taking sides,” Witkoff said. “I’m just identifying what the issues are. I’ve never seen a conflict that can be resolved without level-setting the facts, and we’re level-setting the facts.”
He then added that “this is a much different situation than this was in World War II” because of NATO.
Witkoff repeated Trump’s stance that the main goal is to end the conflict and “end the killing,” which can only be done by getting both sides to the negotiating table.
When pressed on Putin’s characterization as a tyrant or “someone whose political opponents often die,” Witkoff countered that he’s “never, ever seen a situation where there isn’t two sides to a story, it’s just never as black and white as people want to portray, so there are grievances on both sides.”
Witkoff on Ukraine: “There’s a view within the country of Russia that these are Russian territories, that there are referendums within these territories that justify these actions … I just don’t see that [Putin] wants to take all of Europe … I take him as his word.” pic.twitter.com/BGHHpNXvfm
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 23, 2025
What People Are Saying
Yaroslav Trofimov, the Wall Street Journal‘s chief foreign affairs correspondent, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday: “It’s clear from this that the only difference between Steve Witkoff’s and Vladmir Putin’s views on the war in Ukraine is that Putin actually knows the names of all the five Ukrainian regions he wants to keep.”
Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on X on Saturday: “Witkoff’s repeating of Kremlin lies about ‘russian-speakers’ wanting to ‘join Russia’ is truly chilling. This is nothing less than carte blanche for Putin’s genocidal imperialism. Hearing Americans talk like this should be an electric shock for Europe, not a wakeup call.”
Former State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller wrote on X on Sunday: “In summary, Witkoff doesn’t know the names of all the Ukrainian provinces occupied by Russia, but somehow knows the people there want to join Russia…and believes Putin doesn’t want the rest of Ukraine despite him repeatedly saying he does. Ok.”
Fox News’ chief political analyst Brit Hume wrote on X on Sunday: “Witkoff’s answer here is pure mush. Putin is a tyrant and his political opponents are often defenestrated. I wonder what this wizard thinks is the other side of those stories.”
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, wrote on X on Saturday: “Witkoff uncritically repeated several inaccurate Russian claims regarding the status of the Ukrainian territories that Russia illegally occupies.”
“The Russian invasions of Ukraine have never been about protecting Russian speakers,” the account wrote. “Witkoff claimed during the March 21 interview that Russian-occupied Crimea, Donbas, and Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts are ‘Russian-speaking’ and that ‘there have been referendums [in these regions] where the overwhelming majority of people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.'”
“Russia has long used similar claims to justify its unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, having used the claim that Russia needs to ‘protect Russian-speakers’ in eastern Ukraine to justify the launch of its full-scale invasion in 2022,” the account added.
Former Ukrainian Minister of Economy Tymofiy Mylovanov wrote on X on Sunday: “Fact-checking (by me). I spoke with people in occupied regions who participated in referenda. They said those who refused to vote or voted the wrong way were taken by Russians and tortured.”
Marc Thiessen, chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush and a Fox News contributor, wrote on X on Sunday: “Witkoff is completely out his depth. He’s dealing with a KGB mastermind in psyops who is playing him like a cat with a mouse in its paws.”
What Happens Next?
The U.S. and Saudi partners will continue to seek a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, with the U.S. set to hold separate talks with each delegation in Saudi Arabia.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images