Turns out, using a billionaire real estate developer with no diplomatic experience was not the wisest move ever, as this doorknob uses translators the Kremlin provides. In diplomatic circles, that is just never done and for obvious reasons.
Source: NBC News
MOSCOW — President Donald Trump’s special envoy broke with long-standing protocol by not employing his own interpreter during three high-level meetings with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, opting instead to rely on translators from the Kremlin, a U.S. official and two Western officials with knowledge of the talks told NBC News.
Steve Witkoff, who has been tasked with negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, met with Putin in Moscow for several hours on Feb. 11, on March 13, and in St. Petersburg on April 11, and “used their translators,” one of the Western officials said. “If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn’t know what they are saying,” the official added, referring to Putin and the interpreters.
Witkoff, a former real estate mogul and cryptocurrency trader, does not speak Russian. By using Kremlin interpreters, he ran the risk that some of the nuance in Putin’s messages was missed and he would not have been able to independently verify what was being said to him, two former American ambassadors said.
Anna Kelly, a White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement that Witkoff “abides by all security protocols in coordination with the State Department.” Witkoff’s team did not respond. Both the State Department and the Kremlin have also been asked for comment.
Nearly everyone but the Trump administration sees a problem – a big problem – with this.
Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff’s refusal to use his own interpreter “a very bad idea.”
“I speak Russian and have listened to Kremlin interpreters and U.S. interpreters at the same meeting, and the language is never the same,” McFaul told NBC News via email.
Witkoff’s conduct in high-profile negotiations has been previously called into question. The New York Post reported on April 30 that his approach caused concern among White House officials, with sources citing his use of Kremlin translators as one problematic choice.
A member of Trump’s first administration was more succinct, and described Witkoff as a “nice guy, but a bumbling fuckng idiot. He should not be doing this alone.”
Thank you for your input, Mr Bolton.
NBC reports that, shockingly, during his latest Moscow pilgrimage Witkoff met with Putin and his two negotiators alone and without his own interpreter, relying – in breach of protocol – on a locally present one. https://t.co/nutD8D3knJ. However, this seems half the problem (1/n)
— ChristoGrozev@bsky.social (@christogrozev) May 10, 2025
Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev did some expert sleuthing and found that Witkoff’s “translator” was actually a high-ranking member of the Russian Foreign Service, who has ties to their propaganda network RT News funded by the Kremlin, and also worked as an “interpreter” for Lavrov and Medvedev. A spy, in other words.
Witkoff’s greeting of Putin with his hand over his heart last month has been widely mocked.
Witkoff placing his hand over his heart to express his devotion to war criminal Putin and then sheepishly following in tow behind him is utterly disgusting. pic.twitter.com/4eNvfVxeth
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) April 11, 2025