Ukrainian journalist publicly challenges Witkoff over meetings with Putin

Popular Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon publicly confronted US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Kyiv, asking him two pointed questions about his relationship with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Gordon asked whether Witkoff felt he had been deceived by Putin all this time, and whether it disgusted him to sit at the same table with a man Gordon described as an international war criminal personally responsible for Ukraine's tragedy.

Witkoff did not directly answer either question. Instead, he stressed that maintaining relationships with both warring sides is essential to reaching a resolution, and that poor communication with either side would reduce the chances of a peaceful settlement. The envoy revealed he had visited Moscow about eight times, meeting both with Putin and his team, and described Putin's attitude toward him as always respectful. He explained that these meetings help Washington better understand Moscow's position ahead of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Context — Witkoff's remarks in Moscow

The exchange came shortly after Witkoff, during a visit to Moscow to meet Putin, had said that his conversations with the Russian leader would become some of the best memories of his life. Putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov described the talks as extremely open, adding that the American side had put forward several ideas for a possible resolution of the conflict.

Talks with Zelensky

During Sunday's talks in Kyiv between Ukrainian officials and US envoys Witkoff and Jared Kushner, security and economic guarantees for Ukraine as well as the territorial issue were discussed. Zelensky said afterward that such complex territorial questions can only be resolved at the level of national leaders. Media reported that during the meeting, the Ukrainian side gave the American delegation T-shirts bearing the ironic phrase "Kyiv regime" — a nod to terminology used in Moscow's propaganda.