A report said that Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, had a meticulous plan behind the rise in influence of Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer with no diplomatic experience, as a special envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 19th (local time), shortly after Witkoff was appointed Middle East envoy in the Trump second-term administration, he received a message from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that President Putin wanted to meet him. He was told that if the meeting happened, the release of an American prisoner in Russia could also be possible.
However, the condition for the meeting was to come alone, without a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) handler, diplomat, or interpreter. Witkoff in fact met privately with President Putin in Moscow and brought back American prisoner Mark Fogel in February, which significantly boosted his standing.
The WSJ said Putin analyzed even the "psychological profiles" of people around Trump to choose whom to approach. For example, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who had been designated as Ukraine envoy at the time, was classified as an "unfriendly person" because his daughter runs a Ukraine-related charity.
Because of this, Kellogg lost his footing on the Ukraine issue, while Witkoff emerged as a key figure discussing border issues and even the timing of lifting sanctions on Russia together with Jared Kushner, Trump's eldest son-in-law. It is considered unprecedented for businesspeople, not professional diplomats, to be so deeply involved in discussions related to ending the war.
In fact, on his sixth recent visit to Russia, Witkoff held talks with President Putin for more than five hours until midnight, while he has yet to visit Ukraine even once.