Steve Witkoff's salute of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "humanitarian" on Wednesday shocked Ukraine and its supporters, but it didn't surprise close watchers of Witkoff's handling of the Russia file.
The praise, heard around the world, wasn't a departure for the U.S. special envoy, as President Trump has sought to foster warmer relations with Putin in an effort to defuse the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv and develop economic ties with Russia.
Witkoff's remarks were made after he arrived in Russia to secure the release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American citizen who was living in eastern Ukraine when he was detained by the Russians soon after they invaded their neighbor in 2022. The U.S. State Department designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained and denied Russian claims that Hubbard has been a mercenary.
"The president sends his thanks. Our whole nation sends its thanks.... Because of you, he's going home to his family," Witkoff told Putin, referring to Hubbard. "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that. I commend you."
Some Republican senators were quick to condemn the remarks as an over-the-top endorsement of a leader who has long been seen as one of the West's most persistent adversaries.
"No. Putin is a stone cold killer," wrote Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas), who is set to leave the Senate in January after Trump backed his rival, Ken Paxton, to be the Republican candidate in the state.
"What an embarrassing and outrageous thing to say," wrote Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.). "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.'" Tillis is a frequent critic of the president.
When asked about Witkoff's comments on Wednesday, Trump put them in the context of Hubbard's release from a Russian prison.
"Well I guess you could say for that particular purpose, for the purpose of allowing a man who was thinking he was going to be in prison for life out, I wouldn't say anything one way or the other," Trump said while taking questions at a White House event on cybersecurity.
Former U.S. officials who have monitored the White House's dealings with the Kremlin see Witkoff's comments as part of a Trump administration policy shift toward Moscow that is aimed at eliciting Putin's cooperation by offering improved economic and political ties with the West.
"The administration and Witkoff are operating on the assumption that you need some pressure but need to offer incentives as well," said Thomas Graham, a former senior National Security Council official on Russia issues who is now a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "It is part of a broader strategy. I do think they have thought this through."
Graham added that the idea of mixing carrots with sticks was the right approach "although much depends on the details."
Trump has undertaken a series of overtures in recent weeks to improve ties with Putin, striking a deal to buy diesel fuel from Russia and instructing the Treasury Department to waive sanctions on Russian diesel imports until early April. He has also held off on implementing fresh sanctions on Russia under legislation recently passed by Congress, which was named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Witkoff has long maintained cordial ties with Putin, drawing commentary from critics and supporters. In an April 2025, meeting in St. Petersburg, Witkoff placed his hand over his heart in greeting Putin. And Witkoff also spoke warmly of his interactions with Putin during a September trip to Moscow, which he made with Jared Kushner, his fellow envoy.
"When we retire, we'll have all these incredible stories and incredible memories, and yours will be at the top of it all," Witkoff said in comments directly to the Russian leader.
Trump's decision to move away from the longstanding U.S. approach of using stepped-up economic pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine has drawn sharp criticism from Kyiv's supporters in the U.S. and Europe
But Trump has been unapologetic. "My decision on Russia is a very simple one," Trump wrote this week in a social-media post. "I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don't want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has underscored the push to better ties with Moscow by welcoming Russia's finance minister to a G-20 summit in North Carolina in late August and early September. The minister's attendance followed efforts to isolate Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine and drew criticism from European officials at the meeting.
Trump has also said that he is open to Putin's proposal for a three-way meeting with Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The meeting, which was proposed by Putin, wouldn't include Ukraine and, according to Trump, would cover nuclear-arms control.
Following talks between Witkoff and Putin, Russian authorities said Moscow would restart trilateral negotiations with Ukraine and the U.S. on a technical level, but said the proposals that Witkoff brought from Europeans and Ukrainians thrashed out in Oslo this week didn't satisfy the Kremlin's conditions.
Those proposals, Kremlin foreign-policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the talks, "contained little of real value in the context of resolving the Ukraine crisis."
Photo credit: Kristina Solovyova/Kremlin/AP