US President Donald Trump expanded the powers of his special representative in the Middle East of Stephen Witkoff, instructing him to participate in the process of resolving the war between Ukraine and Russia.
It is reported by The New York Times, referring to several informed interlocutors.
[see_also ids \u003d "
According to the publication, Trump a few weeks ago secretly expanded Witkoff's mandate to create an additional channel for negotiations with the Russian side. The US President personally trusts his messenger, with whom he has been friends since the 1980s, believing that his experience in the field of real estate and business skills can contribute to the search for ways to complete the war.
NYT sources report that Vitcoff has already negotiated with people close to the head of the Kremlin Vladimir Putin, and also discussed Ukraine issues with his contacts in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. However, it remains incomprehensible how the powers between Witkoff and retired General Kitit Kelllog, whom Trump had previously officially appointed a messenger on Ukraine and Russia, is distributed.
[see_also ids \u003d "
In addition, in the framework of his mission, Witkoff, together with the advisers of the US President, contributed to the dismissal of the former employee of the American embassy, \u200b\u200bMark Vogel, who was sentenced in Russia in 2022 to 14 years in prison for " He was detained at the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport in 2021 with 17 grams of medical marijuana, which was prescribed by a doctor in the USA.
As notes The New York Times, Vitcoff arrived in Moscow on his private plane to pick up Vogel.
This was the first famous trip of a senior US official to the Russian capital after the visit of the then director of the CIA William Burns in November 2021, when he tried to prevent Russia's full -scale invasion of Ukraine. The White House is considered the release of Vogel about the prospect of the settlement of war.
[see_also ids \u003d "
Recall, according to Bloomberg, Keith Kellogo is developing proposals for the cessation of the war, which Donald Trump plans to submit in the coming weeks.