Steve Witkoff, a special messenger of President Donald Trump and the main negotiator in charge of ending the war in Ukraine, has attracted criticism in Europe and Ukraine after an interview where he seems to support a number of famous Kremlin talks about the conflict.
Comments, where Witkoff seems to receive the results of a fake referendum that was previously held by Russia in Ukraine to justify the confiscation of land there – including Crimea, it is likely to feed fears among European allies that Trump’s government is too leaning towards the Kremlin vision.
In an interview for “The Tucker Carlson Show,” Posted online On Friday, Witkoff spoke of his efforts to negotiate with President Vladimir Putin, talking warmly about Russian leaders. Witkoff said he was sure that the heart of the conflict was Russia’s desire to control the four Ukraine regions that were occupied in part and had claimed to be attached since 2022: Donetsk, Luhanansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The elected president Donald Trump listened when Steve Witkoff spoke during a press conference at Mar-A-Lgo, January 7, 2025, at Palm Beach, Fla.
Evan Vucci/AP, File
Speaking of Putin’s claims on regions in East and South Ukraine, Witkoff suggested that Russia has the right to them because they are majority in Russia and repeat fake cremin claims that a fair referenda there shows that the population wants to be absorbed by Russia.
“They speak Russian, and there is a referendum where the majority of people indicate that they want to be under Russian government,” Witkoff told Carlson.
However, Witkoff did not recognize that the refereing that should have been held in these areas – whether in 2014 in the case of Crimea or 2022 in other regions – was widely dismissed by Western powers, human rights organizations and international bodies as fraud and invalid.
Russia conducted a referendum in areas occupied in Ukraine, Luhanansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the fall of 2022, a few months after confiscating them with full scale invasion launched in February that year. Putin uses a referendum to justify the annexation of the next Russian region. Russia also held a similar referendum in Crimea in 2014 after its occupation on the Ukraine Peninsula.
The referenda was staged after the Russian invasion had forced hundreds of thousands of Ukrains to escape, and while Russian security forces kidnapped and tortured anyone who stated the opposition for its takeover. In some areas, Russian troops are filmed with the accompanying voice collectors when they go from house to house.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with the Governor of Krasnodar Veniamiav Kondratihev during their meeting in Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 24, 2025.
Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik via AP
There are no legal independent international observers who monitor the referendum and they are widely fired as Shams, including by the United States. The UN General Assembly rejected references as illegal and violated the UN Charter.
In September 2022, State Secretary Antony Blinken said the US “no, and will never, recognize one of the Kremlin claims for the sovereignty of several parts of the Ukraine which was confiscated by force and is now intended to be included in Russia.”
Witkoff made a statement about Russian referendum the day before the new round of discussion between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia which aims to try to make progress towards ending the war. The portrayal of his referending as a legitimate triggers some fierce criticism in Europe.
“Repetition of Kremlin Witkoff lied about ‘Russian speakers’ [sic] Want to ‘join Russia’ really terrible, “Former Lithuania Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, wrote in X.” Hearing Americans talking like this should be an electric shock for Europe, not a nickname. “
Some members of the Ukraine Parliament also condemned Witkoff’s comments.
Oleksandr Merezhko, Head of the Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, told Radio Free Europe/Liberty Radio that the statement was “surprising.”
“I don’t understand what this is – ignorance, naivefan, unprofessional?” Merezhko said, who suggested that Witkoff should be removed from the role of negotiations. “Because we talk about presidential representatives, who must professionally understand this problem and know some basic things. And he does not know this. He conveyed Russian propaganda.”
In an interview with Carlson, Witkoff seemed to struggle to remember the names of the Ukraine region. “Donbas, Crimea. You know the name,” He told the personality of the conservative media, which encouraged him to say “Lugansk” – Russian transliteration for Luhanansk. “Lugansk, and there are two others,” answered Witkoff.
Although Putin said he had annexed the four regions, his troops were still not fully controlling most regions. Most of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, including their regional capital, are still not inhabited.
A rich real estate developer, Witkoff has emerged as the main negotiator for Trump’s efforts to end the war, twice now traveling to Moscow, where he said he spent several hours talking to Putin.
In his interview in Carlson, Witkoff was very effective in his praise for Putin, calling him “very intelligent person” and noted Putin told him that he had prayed for Trump after the attempt to kill him during the presidential campaign last year. Witkoff added that Putin had given him a portrait of Trump which according to him Russian leaders had assigned from a famous Russian artist.
“This is a type of connection that we can rebuild through a simple word called communication, which many people say I should not have because Putin is a bad person. I do not consider Putin as a bad person,” said Witkoff.
Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkoff was present and interviews in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/AP
Witkoff also told Carlson that he believed Russia “no need to absorb Ukraine,” said, “They get what they want. So why do they need more?” He also said he was “100%” sure Russia did not want to attack Europe, saying he took Putin “in his words” about it.
Witkoff also repeated an unfavorable claim made by Putin that Russian troops had surrounded a large number of Ukrainian troops in the Russian Kursk area. Although Ukraine was forced to withdraw from the Kursk earlier this month, no evidence arose to suggest many Ukraine soldiers surrounded by, and both independent researchers and Ukraine officials said it was wrong.
“Witkoff is not critically strengthening a number of Russian demands, claims, and justification,” wrote the Institute of War (ISW) based in Washington DC.
Witkoff’s comments can feed deep anxiety in Europe that the Trump government, which moves quickly to restore relations with Russia, is more in harmony with the Kremlin than the NATO allies over the war in Ukraine. European officials and observers have also warned the government, in a hurry to reach an agreement, vulnerable to manipulation by Putin.
The White House believes its re -involvement with Russia has brought peace closer, but critics show that Kremlin has, so far, not yet making a significant concession. Trump claims he is not “in harmony” with Putin. “I am not in harmony with Putin. I am not in harmony with anyone. I am in harmony with the United States, and for the good of the world,” Trump said last month.
Vice President JD Vance on Monday defending Witkoff, wrote at X he did “extraordinary work.”