Reaction of Western journalists to the published transcript of Witkoff's conversation with Russians.
💬 Oliver Carroll, The Economist.
"Even in the Trump era, this is stunning. Here is Steve Witkoff, an American official, giving instructions to a Kremlin adviser on how Putin should behave with Trump."
💬 John Hudson, The Washington Post.
"If you are Ushakov, you are probably a bit concerned about the security of your communications."
💬 Christopher Miller, Financial Times.
"An incredible story. It's shocking, even if we are already used to Witkoff. Here he directly gives advice to Russian officials on how Putin should address Trump, while demonstrating a striking, fundamental misunderstanding of Putin's goals and the war itself."
💬 Piotr Sauer, The Guardian.
"It's incredible that Bloomberg managed to obtain a recording of Witkoff's conversation with Ushakov. It also shows that Witkoff still does not understand all of Putin's demands."
💬 Michael Weiss, The Insider.
"How many more times can Witkoff make unachievable promises and fail to fulfill them — both to Trump and to Putin, to whom, as we now know, he gave advice on how to undermine the US, NATO, and Ukraine?"
💬 Hristo Grozev, The Insider.
"Witkoff advises a foreign leader on how to manipulate his own president? Interesting: will Trump now demand charges of treason against Witkoff?"
💬 Hans Joachim von der Burchard, Politico.
"There is a temptation to assume that American intelligence leaked this to expose Witkoff's machinations."
💬 John Galtivanger, Foreign Policy.
"Who leaked Bloomberg the recordings of the phone conversations? Whoever did it is probably trying to help Kyiv, as these transcripts provide arguments to critics of the plan who call it capitulation to Russia."