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Trump’s envoy isn’t promoting peace. His interventions are helping Vladimir Putin.

By Anne Applebaum

Pay attention to the dates, because the timing matters. Steve Witkoff spoke with Yuri Ushakov, a Russian official, on October 14. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on October 17. Trump had been hinting that he would offer to sell Tomahawks, long-range cruise missiles, to the Ukrainian army. But he did not.

Why not? Perhaps because Ushakov listened to Witkoff’s advice and persuaded Russian President Vladimir Putin to call Trump on October 16. Witkoff, in other words, may have helped block that sale. And that would make Witkoff responsible for prolonging the war.

A tape of the October 14 conversation has been leaked to Bloomberg. That’s how we know Witkoff suggested to Ushakov that Putin call Trump. He also offered advice about what Putin should say. The Russian leader should flatter Trump, of course, which is standard advice for speaking to the American president: “Compliment him on his great success in Gaza, congratulate the president on this achievement.” After that, Witkoff said, “It’s going to be a really good call.”

“With a single phone call,” one insider told Politico last month, “Putin appears to have changed President Trump’s mind on Ukraine once again.” This was Witkoff’s achievement. Working with another Kremlin insider, Kirill Dmitriev, he went on last week to propose the 28-point peace plan that could, if carried out, temporarily stop the fighting but position Russia to invade a weakened Ukraine at a later date.

I’ve written this before, but it cannot be repeated often enough: This war will end only when Russia stops fighting. The Russians need to halt the invasion, recognize the sovereignty of Ukraine, and drop their imperial ambitions. Then Ukraine can discuss borders, prisoners, and the fate of thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children.

But the only way to persuade Russia to stop fighting is to put pressure on Russia. Not Ukraine, Russia. The Ukrainians have already said they will stop fighting and agree to a cease-fire right now, on the current lines of conflict. Yet Witkoff is seeking to persuade Trump not to put pressure on Russia, and we don’t really know why.

Whatever the reason, Witkoff is prolonging the conflict. He is not promoting peace. His call to Ushakov was not, as Trump said last night, a normal negotiating tactic. Every time he intervenes, advocating for Putin’s positions, he encourages the Russians to think they can get Trump on their side, pull America away from Europe, break up NATO, and win the war. In other words, every time he intervenes on behalf of the Russians, he contributes to the deaths of Ukrainians, the attacks on infrastructure, the ongoing tragedy that affects millions of people.

If this were a normal American administration, he would be fired immediately. But nothing about this negotiation, or this administration, is normal at all.