When Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s chief negotiator, and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for the fourth time in the Kremlin on April 25, their beaming smiles and firm handshakes oozed the camaraderie and confidence of business or diplomatic partners going through the last phases of a mutually beneficial negotiation. Putin even greeted him in English, offering a rare glimpse into the Russian president’s foreign language skills.
One can understand the Russian President’s enthusiasm. Last time Witkoff went to Moscow, he flew home to parrot Russian talking points on Ukraine, from suggesting on Fox News that the war was not instigated by Russia, to accepting the legality of the sham 2022 referendums incorporating the four partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts into Russia. In his interview with Tucker Carlson, he did not bat an eyelid when the so-called journalist suggested that “NATO moving close to Russia’s borders was the same as Hamas being on Israel’s border.”Â
After his April 11 meeting with Putin in Saint Petersburg, Witkoff reportedly floated the idea that the US should recognise Crimea as Russian, and suggested that Ukraine accept the loss of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, including the parts still under Ukrainian control.
In a departure from diplomatic protocol Witkoff was alone with Putin during their latest meeting in Moscow. Neither the US ambassador, nor any other US Embassy or State Department staff were in attendance, and he is reported to have used the Kremlin’s interpreters. This has raised concern in diplomatic circles and offers one explanation as to why he brought home a peace plan which reflects so many of Russia’s interests and demands: that Witkoff is simply a naive businessman who, without the advice and filter of experienced diplomats or Russia specialists, was outmanoeuvred by Putin.
But is he really just a bumbling businessman or, on the contrary, the incarnation of a new world order in which international affairs are reduced to business deals serving the interests of an international oligarchical elite?
Witkoff’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine so-called peace talks, started when Saudi royals, aware of his business dealings with Middle East sovereign funds (Qatar and Abu Dhabi) suggested he speak to Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s National Wealth Fund, and a significant investor in Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. According to numerous news sources, and to Witkoff himself, Dmitriev was pivotal in organising the first Putin-Witkoff meeting on February 23, which secured the release of US citizen Marc Fogel imprisoned in Russia since 2021.
Just as Witkoff has since become Trump’s number one international envoy, working outside the system and at times bypassing Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Dmitriev has taken up an almost mirror position as a key member of the Russian team negotiating with the Americans. He attended the latest meeting between Witkoff and Putin on April 25, together with Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s special advisor on international relations, a meeting at which Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was noticeably absent. Lavrov is said to have vociferously objected to Dmitriev’s presence at the first meeting of the Russia US teams in Riyadh on February 18, and Putin had to intervene for Dmitriev to be able to attend. Why Putin has elevated Dmitriev to such a prominent position remains unclear, although it is important to note the friendship and business ties between Dmitriev’s wife and Putin’s eldest daughter Katerina Tikhonova.Â
The friendship between Witkoff and Trump is easier to document as it goes back 40 years. Their relationship, grown out of long years together on the New York real estate scene, predates Trump as a politician and president, and is above all personal. Trump’s trust in Witkoff goes beyond politics to a fealty bordering on the familial. It also runs into the next generation: Witkoff’s son Zac is a founder of the Trump family’s crypto firm, and, with the President’ son Eric, has just secured a US$2 billion backing from an Abu Dhabi backed fund.
When looking at Steve Witkoff’s real estate career, the image of a naive businessman blundering around the Kremlin begins to crack, and what emerges is the figure of a shrewd and ruthless operator, with documented links to Russian billionaires as well as the Russian mafia.
Witkoff, whose paternal grandparents emigrated from the Russian Empire, started his career in a law firm specialising in real estate law, but moved into real estate development in the mid 1980s. One of his first real estate jobs was as a rental landlord and he reputedly carried a gun when he collected rent – for his own safety. A real estate magazine describes him as having worked on New York’s hairiest deals and having the kind of skill that finds “each person’s pressure point in order to break an impasse.” Others have described him as “an animal, a tough New York real estate guy.”Â
Witkoff’s real estate empire is now estimated to be worth over US$2 billion. Not bad for a naive businessman. His flagship New York company is now run by his son, Alex Witkoff, as Steve decided to divest from his business interests to avoid conflicts of interest.
But not all Witkoff’s conflicts have been dealt with so easily.
One of Steve Witkoff’s known business partners is the Ukrainian born and Russian raised Anglo-American billionaire Len Blavatnik, who made a fortune in Russia during the 1990s privatisations, particularly in energy and the crime-ridden aluminium sectors. Blavatnik is close to sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who is accused of being close to the Kremlin’s malign influence operations, and is under personal sanctions in Ukraine.
It is important to note that Blavatnik, or more precisely Sir Len Blavatnik, is not under sanctions anywhere but in Ukraine, that he is a well-known philanthropist, received the legion of honour in 2013 and HM Queen Elizabeth II bestowed a knighthood upon him in 2017.
All of this notwithstanding, Blavatnik and his friends stand to benefit from the re-opening of business ties between Russia and the US.
But Witkoff’s Russia links go further than Russian billionaires.
In 2010 he wrote a letter of recommendation for a notorious senior figure in the Russian and former Soviet mafia in New York, Anatoly Golubchik, allowing the latter to move into a prestigious New York condominium. In the letter, quoted by real estate magazine The Real Deal, Witkoff describes Golubchik as a friend and person of strong reputation and integrity.
Golubchik has been linked to the Russian-American Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization, which had offices in Trump Tower. He was charged with gambling, money laundering, and extortion, for which he received a 5-year prison sentence.
Witkoff has not denied writing the letter of recommendation for Golubchik, stating that he did so at the request of a friend, and his lawyers have simply stated that he regrets it.
Another bumble by the naive businessman?
Steve Witkoff cannot be considered guilty merely by association with friends of the Russian mob or friends of sanctioned Russian oligarchs who are close to Putin. However, these associations raise serious questions as to both his judgement and the business environment in which he has chosen to navigate and prosper. In any Western government this would raise potentially prohibitive red flags were he to be vetted for a government job that required secret or top-secret clearance.
And yet Steve Witkoff is the US’ chief negotiator not only for so-called Ukraine peace talks, but for restoring ties between the US and Russia that promise to reap significant business opportunities for both sides. In a landscape driven by elite interests and covert dealings, the line between diplomacy and profit has become dangerously blurred, and the stakes are nothing less than the fate of nations.
No wonder Witkoff did not want any witnesses to his latest meeting with Putin. It would have cost a fortune to buy their silence.
Samantha de Bendern is a British writer and journalist based in Paris, specializing in Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union.