Steve Witkoff: Who is the real estate mogul tasked with brokering peace in Ukraine?
As the world waits for Russia’s next move over the US-proposed ceasefire deal with Ukraine, only one man has been trusted to head up Donald Trump’s envoy to Moscow – and he’s far from the typical diplomat.
Initially named as Mr Trump’s Middle East envoy shortly after the US election, Steve Witkoff has since been involved in negotiations with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine.
His surprise trip to Moscow last month to achieve the release of US citizen Marc Fogel seemed to secure the 67-year-old as the US leader’s geopolitical dealmaker-in-chief.
Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates
Off the back of his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Witkoff is believed to be seeing him again later this week to discuss diplomatic proposals – though the Kremlin is yet to confirm this.
He has been chosen to go to Moscow by Mr Trump over US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who on paper is the country’s top diplomat, and Keith Kellogg, who was assigned to be the US envoy for Russia-Ukraine peace talks back in January.
So who is Steve Witkoff, and how important a figure will he be as the US tries to navigate peace between Russia and Ukraine?
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‘Trump is listening intently’ to European leaders
From New York real estate to the Oval Office
Born in the Bronx, New York State, Mr Witkoff trained as a lawyer in real estate before turning his hand to property development.
In the 1990s he created his company, the Witkoff Group, which owns a number of properties in New York, most notably the Park Lane Hotel and The Woolworth Building.
Similarly to Mr Trump, he brought his close family members into his company, including his wife, Lauren Rappoport, and their sons Zach and Alexander, who is co-chief executive.
As of 2019, the Witkoff Group owned almost 50 properties across the US and the rest of the world.
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‘If Russia says no, it will tell us a lot’
‘My dear friend President Trump’
The billionaire has known Mr Trump for decades, having first met him through a New York real estate company where the now president was a client.
Having remained close, the pair bonded over their mutual love of golf, and weredescribed by US senator Lindsey Graham as “longtime golf buddies”.
Mr Witkoff was one of those on the fifth hole with the president at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September last year, when a second apparent assassination attempt was made on his life.
Mr Trump and Mr Witkoff back in 2018. Pic: AP
But despite being regular opponents on the course, Mr Witkoff and Mr Trump are very much aligned in politics, with the businessman having donated to the Republican Party during the 2024 election.
He even spoke at the Republican National Convention back in July last year, where he said he had the “privilege” of calling Mr Trump a “true and dear friend for many years, in good times and bad times”.
Mr Witkoff also firmly backed Mr Trump’s foreign policy, saying at the inauguration parade: “We are done carrying the financial burden of nations that are unwilling to fund their own progress.
“The days of blank checks are over”.
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A critical player in Middle East negotiations
During Mr Trump’s first term in office, Mr Witkoff played a more minor role, serving as one of the president’s Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups – which aimed to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was over lunch with Mr Trump after his second election win that Mr Witkoff reportedly broached the idea of working on the Middle East – a region he has extensive business ties with, according to NBC.
“That stunned me because I didn’t know he was that interested in the Middle East,” Senator Graham told NBC back in January, while discussing Mr Witkoff’s appointment.
“And Trump looked at me and said: ‘Well, a million people have tried. Let’s pick a nice guy who’s a smart guy’.”
Mr Trump and Mr Witkoff speaking in January. Pic: AP
Since the beginning of the year, Mr Witkoff has proven to be a critical player in negotiations between Israel and Hamas – helping to secure January’s ceasefire deal which has so far seen the release of some of the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
One person familiar with the negotiations described Mr Witkoff to NBC as someone who is “very much engaged” with “his heart is in the right place”.
A Middle Eastern diplomat, who spoke with NBC on condition of anonymity at the time, added that the businessman was a tough negotiator but was also able to “empathise” with parents who have lost their children on both sides of the conflict, as he openly spoke about his son Andrew, who died of an OxyContin overdose in 2011 aged 22.
US delegation – featuring Mr Witkoff – meets with Saudi and Russian officials. Pic: Reuters
Growing criticism
Despite praise for Mr Witkoff’s approach to geopolitics, there is also growing criticism against him.
Shortly after his visit to Gaza back in January, he backed Mr Trump’s surprise announcement that the US wanted to “develop” the region and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Mr Trump suggested that Gaza’s two million people would not return to their territory under the plans, which has been widely criticised as amounting to ethnic cleansing.
Mr Witkoff said he had developed a ‘friendship’ with Vladimir Putin
Mr Witkoff also faces questions over his first private meeting with President Putin last month, in which he said he had developed a “friendship” with the Russian leader.
Read more:
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Ukraine peace talks are ‘first step’ and ‘an achievement’
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Speaking about his relationship with Mr Putin, he said: “I spent a lot of time with Putin. Talking and developing a friendship and relationship with him…”
He claimed their conversation lasted over three hours.
However, the details of the conversation and what was discussed have never been released, with only translators present at the time.
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.
In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.
“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.
“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Pic: AP
Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.
“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.
“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”
Sexual assault claims
Prince Andrew has denied all claims of wrongdoing. File pic: Reuters
Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.
In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
‘An incredible champion’
Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.
“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”
“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.
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Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.
“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.
“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.
“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.
Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.
She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.
‘A survivor’
After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.
She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.
“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Pope’s funeral, Vatican sources have told Sky News.
The US and Ukrainian presidents had a “very productive discussion”, according to a White House Official, and have also agreed to hold further talks after the service.
They are among world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who are attending the funeral of Pope Francis.
Follow live updates: Zelenskyy among world leaders joining thousands of mourners
There was applause from some of those gathered in St Peter’s Square when the Ukrainian leader walked out.
The former British ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy.
Trump and Zelenskyy meet for first time since Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine, and is their first face-to-face meeting after a very public row between the presidents at the White House in February.
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish Armed Forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening, in a post on X.
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US
Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine are ‘very close to a deal’ – and says ‘two sides should now meet’
Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” with “most of the major points agreed” – as he called for the two sides to meet.
Shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral, the US president said high-level officials should now meet to “finish [the deal] off”.
“A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’.
“Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
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Ukraine-Russia peace talks explained
Throughout the week, the US president has criticised both Ukraine and Russia for failing to agree to a peace deal.
On Wednesday, he accused Mr Zelenskyy of harming talks on Truth Social, saying “the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE”.
A day later, after nine people were killed in Kyiv after a Russian missile and drone strike, Mr Trump said: “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”
The president and other officials have also threatened to withdraw from negotiations if no progress is made toward a deal.
It comes after Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a US-brokered peace plan for Ukraine.
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Putin-Witkoff meeting
The talks allowed Russia and the United States to “further bring their positions closer together” on “a number of international issues”, a Kremlin aide said.
Speaking earlier on the flight to Italy, Mr Trump said he hadn’t been fully briefed on Mr Witkoff and Mr Putin’s meeting – but added it was a “pretty good meeting”.
Read more:
US and Russia talks moving in ‘right direction’, top diplomat says
A ‘barbaric’ 24 hours in a ‘horrendous’ war
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it would not accept a deal conceding land or handing over sovereignty to Russia.
However, Mr Trump said in an interview with TIME magazine that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” describing the region as a place where Moscow has “had their submarines” and “the people speak largely Russian”.
“Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” he added. “It’s been with them long before Trump came along.”
When asked on Friday about Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Zelenskyy did not want to comment but repeated that recognising occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian is a red line.
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