Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Wtikoff has been branded “embarrassing” and “pathetic” as fury erupts after he praised Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian”. Mr Witkoff heaped praise on the Russian President during talks in St Petersburg as the US continues its attempts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The bizarre comment from the special envoy saw him thank Putin for his humanitarian work in the middle of the illegal four-year-long war with Ukraine started by Moscow. He said: “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian too, sir, and I salute that. I commend you, and I thank you again.”
However, the shocking praise for Putin has sparked widespread fury from US politicians, including from Mr. Trump’s own Republican Party. Senator Thom Thillis wrote on X: “WTF, Steve? Look up the definition of ‘humanitarian’. What an embarrassing and outrageous thing to say. You should go back to Ukraine and ask the families of the children Putin has kidnapped and murdered whether they agree your friend Putin is a ‘humanitarian’.” Fellow Republican senator, John Cornyn, said Putin was not a humanitarian but a “stone cold killer”.
Meanwhile, Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, raged: “Witkoff’s pathetic fawning over this KGB thug betrays American values and security. Mark Kelly, a Democratic senator from Arizona, wrote: “In what world is Putin a ‘humanitarian?’ He’s a war criminal.”
Mr. Witkoff had flown to St. Petersburg for crunch talks with Putin as attempts to end the Russia-Ukraine war continue. The US President’s special envoy also met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo on Tuesday.
His bizarre praise of Putin came just hours after a Russian drone attack killed at least two people and injured two others in Kyiv, local authorities said. A Russian drone smashed into a 24-storey residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district, causing a fire to break out on the second floor.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the death toll. The mayor also said drone debris crashed onto a car in the Desnianskyi district, while debris landed in an open area in the Solomianskyi district, Mr. Klitschko said.
These latest strikes came just 24 hours after a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital, which killed one person and injured 21 others. Twelve of the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, with three of them in serious condition.