Quotes
It’s not as though the United States has done great over the years with experienced diplomats when it comes to Putin,
said Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, who said Mr. Witkoff should be given a chance to prove himself
I can tell you that the Kremlin likes Witkoff because they believe that he does provide a direct channel to Trump,
he added
The concern is, does Witkoff understand exactly what Putin is telling him and convey that properly?”
said Mr. Graham, who recently visited MoscowYou come from a background of negotiations and transactions and deals, which is much different than diplomacy,
Mr. Kushner said.jpg)
Witkoff doesn’t have the experience, obviously, that someone like Burns did,
Ms. Hill saidI never understood the Russian sanctions, candidly, because all it did was stop Russian investment into this country,
he said in a podcast interviewYou need to be super well prepared” to deal with Mr. Putin
said Fiona Hill, a Putin biographer who served as Mr. Trump’s senior National Security Council director for RussiaKnowing — to get on a plane, to go to Russia — who to trust, who not to trust, how do you feel like you’re able to navigate that?”
he askedKellogg is a former American general, too close to Ukraine. Not our kind of person, not of the caliber we are looking for,
according to the official, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter
Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia,
Kellogg and his co-author, Fred Fleit, wroteTogether, ... we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”
Trump said when announcing Kellogg’s nomination in NovemberWe agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,
he added.jpg)
Hopefully they’ll do the right thing,
Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte
It's not going to happen. We'll make sure it doesn't happen,
he said.jpg)
The meeting between Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin will take place in a closed format this evening,
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said in response to a question from Russian state-owned news outlet Izvestia
The United States has identified a mediator in negotiations with Russia, and this is not Steve Witkoff."
Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide, Yuri Ushakov, told Zvezda
Ceasefires endorsed by the Russian regime do not have a happy history...For Russia, the real deal-making begins after it signs an agreement, as it constantly breaks deals to extract more concessions while also laying the blame with the other party."
Mark Voyger, a senior fellow at the Center for European Analysis, told NewsweekHe was a cheerleader for this rapprochement where the two leaders would come together, and that’s what happened, so thank God,
Witkoff said
I am a member of that club that's buried a child,
Witkoff saidA huge amount of information in the media does not correspond to reality, with only small portions of it being accurate."
Addressing media reports