window.dotcom = window.dotcom || { cmd: [] }; window.dotcom.ads = window.dotcom.ads || { resolves: {enabled: [], getAdTag: []}, enabled: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.push(r)), getAdTag: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.push(r)) }; setTimeout(() => { if(window.dotcom.ads.resolves){ window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.forEach(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.forEach(r => r("")); window.dotcom.ads.enabled = () => new Promise(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.getAdTag = () => new Promise(r => r("")); console.error("NGAS load timeout"); } }, 5000)
Skip to content

All smiles in the Kremlin as Putin sits down with Trump's deal-maker

Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor
Reporting fromMoscow
EPA Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin shaking handsEPA
A meeting between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin appeared to be amicable in pictures released by the White House

It was all smiles in the Kremlin.

"It's so good to see you," gushed Steve Witkoff as he shook the hand of the Russian president.

From his broad smile you could tell that Donald Trump's special envoy was indeed delighted to see Vladimir Putin.

In fact, he's been seeing rather a lot of him.

This was their fourth meeting in just over two months.

In that period Witkoff has surely had more face time with Russia's president than any other American.

The Kremlin released 27 seconds of video from the meeting. What caught my attention wasn't so much the body language or the greetings - it was the table.

On one side sat the combined might of the Russian delegation: President Putin, flanked by his veteran foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, his envoy on foreign investment Kirill Dmitriev, plus an interpreter.

On the other side, clearly outnumbered: Witkoff and a translator.

This is not traditional diplomacy - but then again, Witkoff is not a traditional diplomat.

He is a billionaire New York real estate developer and long-time confidant of Trump - who himself is not a traditional president.

Like Trump, Witkoff has made a career in doing deals.

This is how high-level US-Russian diplomacy is being conducted now in the Trump era.

It's how crucial decisions with potential implications for the global order are being debated.

Reuters/Kremlin Steve Witkoff, Vladimir Putin and officials at a table in the KremlinReuters/Kremlin

Following this round of talks, Ushakov held a conference call for reporters. He insisted that the negotiations with Witkoff had been "constructive and very useful".

"May I ask a question":[]}