Rubio and Musk back Witkoff’s peace efforts
The US leader’s confidant spent over four hours behind closed doors discussing aspects of a potential settlement of the Ukraine conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, before heading to Oman for high-level talks on Iran’s nuclear program on Saturday.
White House special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff reportedly managed to convince Israel to agree to a Gaza truce in just one meeting – even before US President Donald Trump took office – and has since become one of the key American negotiators on Ukraine.
When he traveled to Russia for the third time in two months – a video of Witkoff smiling and shaking hands with Putin emerged on Friday – critics rushed to accuse him of everything from acting too cozy and perpetuating “Russian propaganda,” to being too “inexperienced” to conduct negotiations and effectively “taking over” the role of US Secretary of State.
“People love attacking Steve Witkoff, but he has done more to advance peace negotiations & hostage releases than any of his career bureaucrat critics have done during their entire careers in the Swamp,” conservative activist Laura Loomer wrote on X, adding that “Steve Witkoff is busting his ass for President Trump.”
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 11, 2025
“Witkoff is great,” agreed billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, another of Trump’s closest allies, who leads Washington’s government waste-cutting task force DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency).
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also “100%” agreed with Loomer’s post.
Witkoff’s first visit to Russia in February resulted in a high-profile prisoner exchange and paved the way for a phone call between the countries’ leaders, kickstarting the resumption of diplomatic relations. Just ahead of Witkoff’s third visit on Friday, Russia and the US conducted another prisoner swap in Abu Dhabi.
The discussions between President Putin and Steve Witkoff on Friday involved “aspects of the settlement of the Ukraine conflict,” the Kremlin has announced, declining to provide further details.
