A plane carrying the American emissary Steve Witkoff posed this Thursday, March 13 in the middle of the day in Moscow. Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump confidence emissary for the most delicate international files, was responsible for asking Russia to accept the thirty-day ceasefire project negotiated by the Americans with the Ukrainians. The 67-year-old man, real estate magnate and close to Donald Trump, had no diplomatic experience before being appointed by this last emissary for the Middle East on November 12, just a few days after the presidential election.
Real estate tycoon and Trump’s great friend
Born on March 15, 1957 in the Bronx of a father manufacturer of coats and a mother teacher, of Jewish confession, Steve Witkoff obtained a diploma in political science before continuing her law studies. He then made a fortune in real estate, first as a business lawyer and then at the head of real estate companies. He founded in 1997 “Witkoff Group”, a real estate consulting company in New York, who describes himself as “developer, investor and landscaper” and has a portfolio of luxury projects concentrated in Manhattan, according to the American press. The magazine Forbes Estimates his fortune at “at least a billion dollars”, which makes him a member “of the half-dozen billionaires in the second Trump government”.
Donor of more than $ 2 million during his campaign, Steve Witkoff is a longtime friend of President Donald Trump, who describes him as a “brilliant negotiator”, according to the Washington Post. The two men met in the 90s, and remained friends since, finding themselves on golf lessons. Steve Witkoff testified as part of Donald Trump’s civil trial in November 2023; It was also he who presented the president during his inauguration party on January 20.
Emissary for the Middle East
Before his appointment, the New York Times recalled that Steve Witkoff was facing potential conflicts of interest in the Middle East, having done business in the past with sovereign funds from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. As an American emissioner, Steve Witkoff played, admission of the Biden administration, a key role in the cease-fire negotiations in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, who entered into force on January 19.
At the end of January, reports the Washington Post Which is based on Israeli media, Steve Witkoff went to Saudi Arabia to work on a “vast agreement for the Middle East”, including the reconstruction of Gaza and the normalization of links between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He went to Gaza, the first visit of an American official in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war. If he noticed his destruction, he also supported Donald Trump’s plan to transform Gaza into “Riviera du Middle East”.
On the front line on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
His portfolio has since been expanded gradually to Russia, although Donald Trump’s envoy for Russia and Ukraine is supposed to be Keith Kellogg. Steve Witkoff is expected to meet Vladimir Putin this week for the second time since the start of the year, after an interview in February when he had negotiated the release of an American detained in Russia, Marc Fogel. He then declared to Fox News That his goal was “what the president asked us to do: negotiate an appropriate end to this war. There are no more dead, there have already been too much”.
The American channel Cnn emphasizes that Steve Witkoff accompanied Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, Donald Trump advisor to national security, during a meeting with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, in Saudi Arabia at the end of February, while Keith Kellogg was absent. According to CNN sources, the latter was dismissed “because of his more radical positions towards Russia”, and because “the Russians indicated that they preferred to negotiate with Steve Witkoff rather than with Keith Kellogg”, which the White House refuted.
During his first mandate, Donald Trump had already appointed another neophyte, Jared Kushner, his son -in -law, at the same position.