Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul believes that US President's special representative Steve Witkoff has done nothing to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine and should be replaced by a more experienced diplomat.
Points of attention
- Michael McFaul believes Steve Witkoff has made no constructive efforts towards achieving a ceasefire in Ukraine.
- McFaul suggests that Witkoff should focus on one area of work instead of handling multiple responsibilities.
- The former US Ambassador advocates for the appointment of an experienced diplomat or national security expert to lead negotiations.
McFaul criticized Witkoff's activities
The ex-consul wrote about this on the social network H.
Witkoff has done nothing constructive to try to negotiate a ceasefire. Perhaps it is time for a more experienced diplomat or national security expert to take charge.
According to McFaul, the best diplomat will not be able to negotiate with several countries at the same time, so Witkoff should be responsible for one direction.
Even the best diplomat in the world—the best diplomat in history—couldn't negotiate with Russia, Iran, and Israel-Palestine all at the same time. Witkoff should be assigned to one area and someone else should handle the rest.
Witkoff has done nothing constructive to try to negotiate a ceasefire. Maybe it's time for a more experienced diplomat or national security expert to take over.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) April 18, 2025
At a minimum, can they add someone to their negotiating team who knows something about Putin and Russia?
In his opinion, the US needs to include in its negotiating team someone "who knows something about Putin and Russia."
It should be noted that Witkoff was initially appointed by US President Donald Trump as his special representative for the Middle East, but he has repeatedly traveled to Russia, where he held talks on resolving the situation in Ukraine. He also recently held talks with Iran on its nuclear program in Oman.
