Steve Witkoff is Putin’s favourite American: he’s happy with next to nothing and makes the war easier for him

Stephen Hubbard “is at Pulkovo Airport”, Vladimir Putin told his favourite American correspondent, Steve Witkoff, who diligently and frequently travels to Russia without interpreters, without the CIA, and without any diplomatic training whatsoever. At the meeting in St Petersburg, the Russian president immediately rewarded Witkoff – his star performer on this trip – by handing over Hubbard, who is now 74 and had been held captive for four years: he had been captured in Ukraine a few weeks after the Russian invasion of 2022, on charges of being a Ukrainian mercenary. Hubbard was the only American in Russia considered by the State Department to be ‘wrongfully detained’. His release cost Putin nothing, but it earned him, on the spot, one of the most obscene exchanges of compliments in these wretched times. 

“You speak so highly of my president, President Trump,” said Witkoff, addressing Putin on camera, “as a man of great humanitarian spirit. You, too, have a great humanitarian spirit, and I appreciate that, I commend you for it and thank you once again.” The Russian president appeared satisfied; perhaps even he finds it difficult to believe that the Americans have become so docile – the day before, Donald Trump himself had said that Russia was behaving “correctly” towards Ukraine, unlike Volodymyr Zelensky, of course, while Putin’s bombs were killing civilians in Ukrainian cities.

For Putin, everything has become easy; even the restriction of Starlink and Starshield satellite intelligence on the Ukrainian front – one of the deadliest atrocities that the (former) American ally has inflicted on Kyiv’s forces – has turned into an internal saga amongst Trump supporters, with the Wall Street Journal citing sources who claim that it was Elon Musk who made the decision, Musk claims he does not control Starshield – it is the Pentagon – whilst U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio states that Trump has nothing to do with these decisions, as it is a private company (the day before, he had said that no one had decided; ‘it just happened’), Meanwhile, Zelenskyy, as recently as yesterday, gave an interview to Fox News in which he stated that Starlink and Starshield are still operating at reduced capacity, but that he had spoken to Rubio and his team are resolving the issue (the warning system for Russian ballistic missiles has resumed operation).

For Putin, everything has become easy, and so, speaking to Witkoff, he reported that during his telephone conversation with Trump on 9 October, the American president told him that he wants the war to end, above all for the soldiers who are dying in droves, but also because of ‘the suffering of civilians’ – which, for Putin, naturally refers to the victims of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, not the extermination he is carrying out in Ukraine. Riding along this highway of impunity that the Americans have thrown wide open before him, Putin was able to reiterate the lie that the military initiative on the front line lies entirely with the Russians, and then had his loyal adviser Yuri Ushakov – who is the one who most enjoys dealing with Witkoff – state that ‘in principle’ he agrees to resume the three-way technical talks (between Russians, Ukrainians and Americans) after 10 November, as proposed by Zelensky. But according to Barak Ravid’s report on Axios, Putin wants to continue discussing the other trilateral meeting – one far more appealing to him – with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Russian president has offered another sweetener, far more significant for the Trump administration, by stating his willingness – on the basis of the “special relationship of trust” between Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran – to help America resolve the crisis with Tehran.

Trump has decided to abandon Ukraine to Putin, hoping in this way to secure Russian support regarding Iran: this is why he struck the diesel deal with Putin, lifted some sanctions against Putin, hindered Ukraine’s defence against Putin, and said that what Putin is doing in Ukraine is fine. A Fox News journalist asked Zelenskyy whether he was willing to freeze the conflict along the current front line; the Ukrainian president confirmed, for the hundredth time, that he agreed (it is a Ukrainian proposal); the journalist then asked him whether he was willing to halt attacks on Russian refineries; the Ukrainian president again confirmed that he was willing, provided that Putin also halted them.

Everything remains as it has been: Ukraine says yes, Russia says no (or says nothing), except that now Trump has made it easier for Putin to parade his favourite envoy about, to pose as a mediator in wars where he supports America’s enemy, and to kill Ukrainians.