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.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Trump campaigned on ending the war on “day one” and has made it one of his top priorities. Putin, meanwhile, has shown little interest in ending the conflict, and in remarks broadcast Sunday, referenced Russia’s nuclear capability as he talked about bringing the war to an end.
The Russian leader, who is known to speak some English, communicates through an interpreter during negotiations and when he is conducting official meetings. At a meeting with Witkoff on April 25, he was flanked by his special adviser Yuri Ushakov, who served as Russia’s ambassador to the United States between 1998 and 2008, and Kirill Dmitriev, his special envoy for investment and economic cooperation. An interpreter joined Putin’s team.
A short video of the meeting released by the Kremlin shows a smiling Witkoff entering the room alone before he shakes hands with Putin, who is also broadly beaming. Witkoff does not appear to be accompanied by any advisers or experts who typically support American officials conducting delicate and complicated negotiations.
As a woman joined Witkoff on his side of the table, he pointed at her and said, “Interpreter? From the embassy? OK.”
Kelly, the White House deputy press secretary and Witkoff’s team did not identify the woman when asked by NBC News. The State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the Kremlin have also been asked for comment.
Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said using the Kremlin’s interpreter was “a very bad idea” that put Witkoff “at a real disadvantage.”
“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 said via email Wednesday.
Having a U.S. interpreter present also ensures a more accurate written account of the meeting for the rest of the government, known as a memorandum of conversation or “memcon,” said McFaul, now professor of political science at Stanford University.
“At the end of every meeting that I attended, I debriefed the interpreter to make sure we heard everything correctly, to get the ‘memcom’ exactly right. You can’t do that using a Russian official,” he added.
Not having detailed notes about the meetings could create problems for other senior members of the Trump administration, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, as they try to advance discussions, McFaul said.
“How does Kellogg know what Witkoff agreed to with Putin? He only knows it through a ‘memcom,’” he added.
Witkoff’s dealings with sensitive information as he plays a key role in trying to resolve not only the war in Ukraine, but also the conflict in Gaza and the nuclear deal with Iran, have also raised eyebrows.
Witkoff’s plane, which he uses to fly to Russia for the meetings, is not fitted with a secure government communications system, according to two Western officials, including one previously quoted in this article. However, the officials said he has made sensitive calls from the U.S. Embassy before boarding the plane and has a secure cellphone.
NBC News approached the White House National Security Council for comment and was referred to Witkoff’s team, which did not respond. The State Department has also been asked for comment.
Witkoff’s efforts appear to have yielded little results in ending the war, at least from Russia’s side.
A proposal that Trump should meet with Putin on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week was nixed because there was no movement on Russia’s part toward a ceasefire, according to two administration officials and one U.S. official familiar with the planning. A meeting would have been contingent on Russia agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine, the administration officials said.
Separately, a European official said intelligence assessments indicate Putin remains committed to maximalist goals in the war in Ukraine and has no interest in coming to a negotiated settlement.
Putin has previously said he wants Ukraine to withdraw from four regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — which Russia illegally annexed shortly after invading Ukraine in February 2022. He has also insisted that Ukraine promise never to join NATO, accept restrictions on the size of its army, and protect Russian culture and language inside the country.
Since his last meeting with Witkoff, the White House has signed an “economic partnership” with Ukraine that will give Washington access to some of the war-torn nation’s critical minerals and natural resources.
“The Ukrainians have been cooperative, flexible, supportive and eager to move forward, but the Russians have not,” said William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, adding that it was “standard, basic practice that you have your own interpreter,” in high-level diplomatic meetings.
Ukraine, he said, had agreed to U.S. proposals on a comprehensive air, sea and land ceasefire, while extending a truce to Black Sea shipping lanes.
A “term sheet” with 22 proposals, including a 30-day ceasefire, has been drawn up by American, European and Ukrainian negotiators, one of the Western officials said, adding that it met Putin’s demand that the U.S. will not support Ukraine joining NATO.
“If Putin wants a way out, here is his way out,” the official said of the proposals. Witkoff will have to present them to the Russian president, they added.
In remarks published Sunday, Putin said Russia had sufficient strength and resources to take the war in Ukraine to its logical conclusion, though he hoped there would be no need to use nuclear weapons.
In a film broadcast by state television titled “Russia, Kremlin, Putin, 25 years,” he said, “There has been no need to use those weapons … and I hope they will not be required.”
Keir Simmons reported from Moscow. Carol Lee, Dan De Luce and Courtney Kube reported from Washington, D.C.
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