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US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met Saturday in Ibiza, Spain, with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani to discuss a plan for ending the war in exchange for the release of all hostages held by the Hamas terror group. According to the report, the developing proposal includes a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the release of all hostages, the disarmament of terrorist organizations, the expulsion of senior Hamas officials abroad, and the establishment of a professional government under the supervision of a police force. An Israeli official familiar with the deals of the...

President Vladimir Putin has presented US President Donald Trump's special envoy with an award to pass on to a senior CIA official whose son was killed fighting with Russia in Ukraine. Putin gave the Order of Lenin to Steve Witkoff during his trip to Moscow this week to discuss a plan to end the Ukraine war, sources familiar with the matter told the BBC's US partner CBS. Michael Gloss, 21, who was killed in Ukraine last year, was the son of Juliane Gallina, who is the CIA's deputy director for digital innovation. Reports of the award emerged as it was...

A bilateral meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could happen as soon as next week, according to a White House official. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff returned from Moscow on Wednesday and relayed to President Trump that Putin would like to meet with him, the official said. In response, Trump indicated he is open to that if Putin also meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the official added. Witkoff met with Putin for several hours on Wednesday ahead of the Friday deadline imposed by Trump for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine or...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his special envoy Steve Witkoff had made "great progress" in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Washington continued its preparations to impose secondary sanctions on Friday. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said he had briefed some European allies about Witkoff's meeting with Putin, which was focused on ending the 3-1/2-year war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come," Trump added, without providing further...

Hamas leaders are likely to be emboldened to carry on fighting by French and British proposals to recognize a Palestinian state in a break with Trump.. Frustrated by the deadlocked peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and seeing the chances of a two-state solution slipping away, several European countries led by the United Kingdom and France have now promised to recognize an independent Palestinian state to reaffirm their commitment to a permanent settlement. However, far from encouraging a ceasefire in the conflict that has raged in the Gaza Strip for nearly two years, European efforts will only encourage Hamas to...

US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit Moscow on Sunday to try for a breakthrough in negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict, according to US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker. Trump has also announced that Witkoff will travel to Russia, although he gave no specific timeline. The special envoy has previously met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on several occasions during past diplomatic efforts. DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff deserves a great deal of credit for what followed in the aftermath of President Trump’s final elimination of the Iranian nuclear threat. Throughout the 12-day war, Witkoff maintained a diplomatic connection to the Iranian delegation in order to position a ceasefire upon conclusion. The Trump administration is now taking a more firm stance toward who in Iran they will accept negotiations with. As noted by Secretary Rubio, the use of intermediaries has exhausted its usefulness. While Qatar may play a role as an interlocutor to bridge the two sides, the time has come for direct face-to-face...

Israeli security official: “We knew this (our intelligence) would lead them to meet — but more importantly, we knew how to keep them there.” ... An Israeli security official told Fox News that Israel tricked Iran’s leading air force commanders into gathering for a meeting to distract them during a strike on their nuclear facilities. “We carried out specific activities to help us learn more about them, and then used that information to influence their behavior,” the official told Fox News. “We knew this would lead them to meet — but more importantly, we knew how to keep them there.”...

White House envoy Steve Witkoff privately warned top Senate Republicans last week that Iran could unleash a mass casualty response if Israel bombs their nuclear facilities, according to a U.S. official and a source with direct knowledge. -snip- Last Thursday, Witkoff held a closed-door briefing on Iran with a group of Republican senators. Among them were Sens. Risch (R-Idaho), Graham (R-S.C.), Barasso (R-Wyo.), and Ricketts (R-Nebr.), the source with knowledge said. Witkoff told the Senators that military strikes by Israel are on the table if no agreement is reached. He then brought up Iran's ballistic missile capabilities. The U.S. is...

The Trump administration confirms that US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff will travel to Muscat on Sunday for the sixth round of nuclear talks with Iran. Talks will be both direct and indirect, as in previous rounds, says a statement to reporters attributed to a source familiar.

A month before President Trump’s inauguration, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff flew to the United Arab Emirates with two goals: discussing regional issues with the Abu Dhabi royal known as the “spy sheikh,” and attending a cryptocurrency conference. Less than five months later, Witkoff’s son, co-founder of the crypto venture World Liberty Financial, took the stage at a conference in Dubai to announce the company had struck a deal for the sheikh’s company to buy $2 billion of their new cryptocurrency. The expected tens of millions of dollars in annual profits would be split between the Witkoffs and their co-founders—and...

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are seemingly at odds amid a U.S. truce with Houthis in Yemen and the President seeking to peacefully negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran without plunging the United States into another endless war. According to Axios, Trump met with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in private on Thursday to discuss upcoming nuclear talks with Iran and Israel’s Gaza campaign. Dremer also met with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump is expected to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on...

Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) says the Trump administration should drop nuclear negotiations with Iran and finish off the country's nuclear facilities with a military strike. "Waste that s—t," the Pennsylvania Democrat told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview on Wednesday. "You're never going to be able to negotiate with that kind of regime that has been destabilizing the region for decades already, and now we have an incredible window, I believe, to do that, to strike and destroy Iran's nuclear facilities." Fetterman dismissed the foreign policy experts who warn that striking Iran would lead to the outbreak of...

Washington and Tehran are expected to hold a second round of nuclear talks this Saturday, April 19, in Rome, following what Axios described as a “serious and substantive” first meeting in Oman. On April 12, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi held the highest-level US-Iran dialogue in eight years. Trump later said the talks are "going ok".

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent rival teams to Washington for talks with the Trump administration as ceasefire negotiations for the war in Ukraine are underway, according to an independent investigative Russian news outlet. On Thursday, Kirill Dmitriev, a businessman and Putin's investment envoy, announced that he is in Washington this week to hold talks with U.S. officials. The official, who runs Russia's sovereign wealth fund, is meeting Trump ally Steve Witkoff at Putin's request, he said. Putin also gave the go-ahead for another rival team to engage in talks with Washington, news site Agentstvo reported on Thursday. The two teams...

A major witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation was arrested Monday on child-pornography charges, after flying into the U.S. for the first time since his cooperation with Mr. Mueller’s team. George Nader, a dual U.S. and Lebanese citizen, was charged in a criminal complaint more than a year ago, in April 2018, after he had spent hours with Mr. Mueller’s investigators detailing his contacts with Trump allies and efforts to set up meetings between Trump campaign associates and a Russian businessman close to President Vladimir Putin. Nobody connected to the Trump campaign was charged as a result of Mr....

A Russian official is expected to visit Washington, D.C., this week for talks with the Trump administration, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing a U.S. official and two sources familiar with the plans. The official, Kirill Dmitriev, will meet with Steve Witkoff, a Trump administration official, for talks about strengthening relations between the two countries as they seek to end the war in Ukraine, according to CNN.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has turned into a key piece of manpower in the Donald J. Trump administration when it comes to high-level negotiations.Witkoff comes from a real estate investor and lawyer background, having held no formal diplomatic posts until Trump called him to serve.Despite that, the 45-47th US President has trusted him with not one, but two seemingly impossible tasks: to negotiate peace in the Middle East and also to head the détente process with Russia, achieving an end to the war in Ukraine.The Special Envoy was received twice by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is highly unusual, and...

Russia does not seek to absorb all of Ukraine, as the Russians have "returned" five regions and Crimea, obtaining what they need, states the US Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The Special Envoy emphasized the importance of reaching a fair agreement for Ukraine, but stressed that the US and Western countries cannot allow this country to drag them into a Third World War. He added that this is not his personal opinion, but the policy of President Donald Trump. When asked by the journalist about the plans of the UK and several other European countries to send...

Witkoff said in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson that the two leaders had sent signals to each other of their readiness for dialogueNEW YORK, March 22. /TASS/. US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff has said that he delivered Donald Trump’s portrait commissioned by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the US president. Witkoff said in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson that the two leaders had sent signals to each other of their readiness for dialogue. "President Putin, to his credit, sent all kinds of signals back to the [US] president that this is the path that he...