US special envoy Steve Witkoff violated standard diplomatic protocol during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports, citing sources.
Witkoff went to the talks without a stenographer from the US State Department, one of the sources told the agency. It is not known why this happened. As a result, Trump's representative was left without concrete proposals from Putin on how to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The talks between the US president's special envoy and the Russian president took place on August 6. The next day, Witkoff, according to a Reuters source, called several European leaders and made it clear that Russia was ready to withdraw its troops from Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in exchange for Ukraine's withdrawal from Donbas.
This proposal surprised many participants in the phone call, as it sharply differed from their own assessments of Putin's position, informed sources told the agency.
The next day, however, Witkoff announced a different position from Moscow. During a phone call organized by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with European national security advisers, the special envoy said that Putin had not actually proposed withdrawing troops from the two regions. Diplomatic efforts "have turned into chaos," Reuters notes.
Earlier, sources from some publications, including The Washington Post and Bild, had already reported that Witkoff may have misunderstood Putin's proposals.