Trump envoy relied on Kremlin interpreter in meetings with Putin to end war in Ukraine
President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff broke with security protocol by not employing his own interpreter at meetings with Russia's Vladimir Putin.
MOSCOW — President Donald Trump’s special envoy broke with long-standing protocol by not employing his own interpreter during three high-level meetings with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, opting instead to rely on translators from the Kremlin, a U.S. official and two Western officials with knowledge of the talks told NBC News.
Steve Witkoff, who has been tasked with negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, met with Putin in Moscow for several hours on Feb. 11, on March 13, and in St. Petersburg on April 11, and “used their translators,” one of the Western officials said. “If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn’t know what they are saying,” the official added, referring to Putin and the interpreters.
Witkoff, a former real estate mogul and cryptocurrency trader, does not speak Russian. By using Kremlin interpreters, he ran the risk that some of the nuance in Putin’s messages was missed and he would not have been able to independently verify what was being said to him, two former American ambassadors said.
Anna Kelly, a White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement that Witkoff “abides by all security protocols in coordination with the State Department.” Witkoff’s team did not respond. Both the State Department and the Kremlin have also been asked for comment.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Trump campaigned on ending the war on “day one” and has made it one of his top priorities. Putin, meanwhile, has shown little interest in ending the conflict, and in remarks broadcast Sunday, referenced Russia’s nuclear capability as he talked about bringing the war to an end.
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