Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that he prayed for “his friend” Donald Trump after an assassin’s bullet narrowly missed the then-presidential candidate’s ear last year, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff shared during an interview on Friday.
In his appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast, Witkoff commended Putin’s willingness to explore avenues for ending the conflict in Ukraine, labeling claims that Russia intended to attack additional European nations as “absurd.”
Witkoff, who has met with Putin on two occasions, mentioned that during his second trip to Moscow, the Russian president’s communications for Trump became more personal. Putin expressed his genuine concern following the assassination attempt on Trump during a campaign visit in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July of last year, according to Witkoff.
“Putin shared a story with me … about how when the president was targeted, he visited his local church and prayed for him,” Witkoff recounted. Putin’s actions were motivated “not by the prospect of becoming the president of the United States, but out of friendship, as he was praying for a friend.”
During the same visit, Witkoff reported that Putin gifted a painting of Trump, which he had commissioned from a Russian artist, to the American president.
“I returned home and conveyed that message to our president, along with the painting, and he was visibly moved,” Witkoff stated. “This reflects the kind of bond we’ve been able to re-establish through, as a matter of fact, a simple concept known as communication.”
Witkoff rejected charges against the Trump administration’s outreach to Putin, noting that the only way to address the war in Ukraine is through dialogue with all parties involved in the conflict. He also disputed portrayals of Putin as untrustworthy.
Though some may question whether he should have met with the Russian leader, seeing Putin as “a bad guy,” Witkoff stated, “I don’t view Putin as a bad guy.”
A real estate mogul and close associate of the president who has emerged as a key diplomatic envoy for Trump, Witkoff expressed gratitude for Putin’s openness to meeting and his straightforward communication style.
“I found him likable. I thought he was honest with me,” he remarked, emphasizing that “it was kind of him to accept my visit.”
Poisonings, shootings, and plane crashes
Putin, a former KGB officer who has been in power in Russia for the past 25 years, has faced accusations related to the deaths of various Russian opposition leaders, including Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last year.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of a mercenary group, died in a plane crash last year, shortly after orchestrating a failed mutiny against Putin that stemmed from disputes regarding the war in Ukraine. No official investigation results were disclosed following the fiery crash that also claimed the lives of nine others.
Boris Nemtsov, a prominent figure in Russia’s opposition and one of Putin’s staunchest critics, was assassinated in 2015 just steps from the Kremlin.
Additionally, in 2018, Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in the U.K. using a nerve agent believed to be the same Novichok poison later used on Navalny. Two Russians were also alleged to have poisoned former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a vocal opponent of Putin who had sought refuge in the U.K.
Notable journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot outside her Moscow residence in 2006 after cautioning reporters in Russia about the dangers of challenging the Kremlin’s narrative.
Putin blamed Biden
Witkoff noted that during their meeting, Putin pointed out that he and former President Joe Biden had not communicated for three years, which Witkoff termed a misstep.
“How can you resolve a conflict without fostering trust and goodwill between one another?” Witkoff questioned.
Trump’s envoy disclosed that an administration official had cautioned him that Putin was a former KGB officer. However, Witkoff believed this background merely signified that Putin belonged to the elite of the former Soviet Union, as the KGB recruited exceptionally skilled individuals.
“In earlier times, only the most intelligent individuals in the country were accepted into the KGB,” Witkoff observed. “He is a very intelligent person.”
While Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine breached international law and has led to allegations of war crimes by Russian forces, Witkoff suggested that media narratives surrounding the conflict have been skewed, and the situation cannot be blamed solely on one party.
“It’s a complex situation involving significant contributing factors leading up to this war,” he remarked.
The special envoy indicated that the crux of resolving the war in Ukraine lay in Russia’s claim to four eastern regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. He referred to this issue as “the elephant in the room.”
Ukraine firmly opposes surrendering these territories, which are recognized as part of its internationally accepted borders.
Most of these regions remain under Russian occupation, and Moscow has conducted referendums regarding their potential annexation, which Western nations and Ukraine denounce as illegitimate and conducted under duress.
However, Witkoff, who found it challenging to enumerate all four regions during the interview, pointed to the Russian-organized votes as evidence that residents in those areas favor Russian governance.
“They speak Russian,” he said. “There have been referendums in which the vast majority of the population expressed a desire to be under Russian rule.”
Witkoff stated that it remains uncertain whether Ukraine could consent to relinquishing that territory to Russia and whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could maintain his political standing if he admitted to Russian dominance in the region.
“The Russians currently control these territories,” Witkoff asserted. “Will the international community recognize them as Russian territories?”
He further added that Russia is not interested in fully annexing Ukraine, asserting that it has already achieved its objectives by seizing the four eastern regions and the Crimean Peninsula.
“The Russians already have what they want,” he concluded. “So what more do they seek?”
