Trump envoy calls Putin a ‘humanitarian’ for freeing US citizen
Donald Trump’s special envoy is facing a backlash from American politicians after describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian”.
US diplomat Steve Witkoff made the remarks during a visit to the Russia on Wednesday when he successfully secured the release of an American citizen who had been jailed by Russian authorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff shake hands prior to the talks at the Konstantin Palace in Strelnya, outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday, October 21. Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool
Trump wrote on Truth Social he had requested Putin during a phone call last week to free 74-year-old Stephen Hubbard, and that, unlike previous releases, the US did not have to release anyone in return.
The release of Hubbard, jailed for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, came as Witkoff and Putin held talks outside the city of St Petersburg about ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian,” Witkoff told Putin in response to Hubbard’s release. “You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again.”
Witkoff’s praise for the Russian president triggered a backlash from American politicians, including members of Congress from Trump’s Republican party.
“What an embarrassing and outrageous thing to say,” said Republican Senator Thom Tillis. “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.’”
US citizen Stephen Hubbard was jailed by a Russian court after being accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine . (Moscow City Court Press Service
“No. Putin is stone cold killer,” said Republican Senator John Cornyn in a post on X.
“Another embarrassment,” said Republican Representative Don Bacon, including a clip of Witkoff’s remarks, in his social media post.
US President JD Vance defended Witkoff’s remarks, saying all that mattered was the release of Hubbard.
“I care much less about what Steve said than about the fact that he is bringing an American hostage home to his family. We should all be celebrating that, not be complaining about what Steve Wikoff said in order to get it done.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that Hubbard’s release was “raised by the American side for a certain time,” and Putin decided to free the man out of “humanitarian considerations.”
Putin ordered the Russian military to invade neighbouring Ukrainian in February 2022 expecting a swift victory.
But stubborn Ukrainian resistance aide by western military aid has seen the conflict become a bloody stalemate, with estimates of up to 2 million military casualties.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin charging him with the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
- With The Associated Press
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