Steve Witkoff

Due to travel to Moscow with Kushner after the Abu Dhabi talks

European leaders rejected a US-Russian plan to rewrite Europe's security rules, saying Moscow should not hold a veto over NATO. Their rejection came before the first direct Russia-Ukraine talks in nine months, held in Abu Dhabi and ending on November 11 with a prisoner-exchange deal but no ceasefire.

Updated 2 hours ago

Reported by Axios as lead US negotiator in May 2026 direct talks with Iran, co-negotiating 14-point MOU alongside Jared Kushner

Iran said two oil tankers hit mines and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on November 8. A third vessel also burned, bringing the number of ships hit since the start of November to at least 12. The US military disabled a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard later disabled navigation systems on four tankers using a route it considers unauthorized. Ship tracking put Hormuz traffic at about 5% of pre-war levels on November 10.

Updated Yesterday

Met Putin in St Petersburg on Oct 21 and described the talks as constructive; Ushakov said the proposals he brought lacked substance

Russia escalated missile and drone strikes in the week before the first trilateral talks since February, damaging energy facilities in 12 regions on Nov 9. At least four people were killed in attacks on Odesa and the Kyiv region, a 2-year-old was injured in Kharkiv, and Dnipro and Kamianske lost power.

Updated 2 days ago

Concluded failed negotiations before strikes began

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and hitting nuclear and military sites. A 60-day ceasefire expired on August 18 without renewal, and Iran said it would shift to a 'fully offensive' military posture.

Updated 2 days ago

Participated in Islamabad talks April 11–12 alongside VP Vance and Kushner; criticized by current and former diplomats as lacking technical depth for nuclear negotiations; maintains direct message contact with Araghchi

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran's military sites, nuclear facilities and leadership. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed, and his son Mojtaba was chosen to replace him. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, a route for about a fifth of world oil, and a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire on April 8 was followed by failed talks in Islamabad and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Updated 4 days ago

Leading U.S. peace mediation efforts

Ukraine resumed long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries after the U.S.-brokered energy ceasefire collapsed in mid-October. In the following weeks it hit the Bashneft complex in Ufa, an oil facility in Samara Oblast, the Kstovo refinery and a refinery in Yaroslavl, according to Ukrainian and Russian reports. Rosneft told Bloomberg on October 22 that losses from the strikes were becoming unsustainable, and the first tanker of Russian diesel under a Trump-brokered import deal sailed to the U.S. the next day despite Ukrainian objections.

Updated 4 days ago

Met Qatar PM in Doha July 1 alongside Kushner; indirect talks concluded July 2 with goods-purchase mechanism and violation channel agreed; next round after Khamenei funeral

Iran said on November 2 that it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days and restart nuclear talks, shortening a plan it had earlier said would take a week. The offer kept its conditions: the US must lift sanctions on Iranian oil, accept a ceasefire that covers Lebanon, and let ships use a route agreed with Oman under Iranian supervision.

Updated 6 days ago

Directed to continue Iran negotiations alongside JD Vance and Jared Kushner; participated in Switzerland talks June 21; active in Oman talks July 10–11

Brent reached $116 a barrel by November 1 as OPEC met and Saudi Arabia's economy contracted 3.8% under the cost of the war and disrupted oil exports. Saudi Arabia restarted the East-West pipeline and resumed loadings at Yanbu in late September, but attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz kept traffic about 70% below prewar levels. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center recorded 144 maritime incidents in the Hormuz region since February 28, making October the worst month of the war.

Updated Nov 1

Led US side in Miami talks, October 9

Russian forces have kept striking Zaporizhzhia, killing a 27-year-old woman in a high-rise on October 18. On October 22, regional officials reported 862 attacks on 48 settlements in 24 hours, with three people killed in the city and surrounding district.

Updated Oct 22

As of September 2026: Leading the renewed peace push; made first visit to Kyiv

President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday for their first official visit to Ukraine. The trip came a day after a three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, part of a renewed push to end a war now in its fifth year.

Updated Sep 7

As of May 2026: Leading Phase 2 implementation of Gaza peace plan

Ran Gvili's remains were recovered on January 26, 2026, ending the hostage crisis. Phase Two of Trump's peace plan fell apart by April: Hamas rejected the Board of Peace's disarmament proposal, and the Palestinian technocratic committee (NCAG) has no presence in Gaza. The Board of Peace has pledged $17 billion for reconstruction but has not disbursed a single dollar from its World Bank account.

Updated May 31

As of May 2026: Leading American negotiating team in Iran talks

Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington this week with a single message: any deal with Iran must go beyond uranium. After three hours in the Oval Office on February 11, President Trump emerged saying 'nothing definitive' was reached—but negotiations would continue.

Updated May 27

As of May 2026: Actively brokering peace talks between Russia and Ukraine

The United States and Russia agreed on February 5, 2026, to reestablish high-level military communication that had been suspended since fall 2021. The channel gives General Alexus Grynkewich (commander of U.S. European Command) a direct line to General Valery Gerasimov (chief of Russia's General Staff). It restores a mechanism designed to prevent miscalculation between two nuclear-armed militaries operating in proximity across Europe, the Arctic, and the Black Sea.

Updated May 27

As of May 2026: Leading diplomatic outreach for Board of Peace membership

The United Nations has been the primary venue for international conflict resolution since 1945. On January 22, 2026, President Trump launched an alternative: the Board of Peace, a body he chairs for life where permanent membership costs $1 billion and he holds sole veto power.

Updated May 22

As of May 2026: Announced Phase Two launch

Hamas governed Gaza since June 2007, but on January 15, 2026, a 15-member committee of Palestinian technocrats met in Cairo—none affiliated with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. The next day, Trump announced the Board of Peace's leadership: himself as chair, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former UK PM Tony Blair, Jared Kushner (his son-in-law), special envoy Steve Witkoff, and others. By January 17, Netanyahu's office had declared the arrangement to be 'not coordinated with Israel and contrary to its policy.'

Updated May 21

As of May 2026: Leading phase two ceasefire negotiations

A severe winter storm struck Gaza on January 13, 2026, collapsing war-damaged walls and killing at least 8 Palestinians, including a 7-day-old infant, a 1-year-old boy, and a 4-year-old girl who died of hypothermia. Cold-weather deaths have reached at least 23 since winter began; over 1.1 million people need shelter and 81% of Gaza's structures are destroyed or damaged.

Updated May 20

As of May 2026: In active communication with Iranian Foreign Minister

Iran's nationwide uprising, triggered by December 28, 2025 bazaar marches in Tehran, was crushed in what may be the deadliest massacre in the Islamic Republic's history. An internet blackout that began January 8 was partially restored around January 17-18, though connectivity remains severely restricted. Early reports confirmed 572 deaths; after internet restoration in late January, the Human Rights Activists News Agency documented at least 6,126 deaths, with estimates ranging from 12,000 to over 36,500.

Updated May 20

As of May 2026: Leading peace talks with Russia on behalf of Trump administration

On December 28, President Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced 90% agreement on a revised 20-point peace framework at Mar-a-Lago. The next day Russia claimed Ukraine attacked Putin's residence with drones—a charge Kyiv denies, calling it fabricated to sabotage talks. The alleged attack exposes how fragile negotiations are: while diplomats inch toward compromise, the shadow war continues and Moscow weaponizes accusations to 'toughen' its bargaining position. The real question after nearly four years of invasion is whether either side will stop fighting long enough to sign a deal.

Updated May 16

As of May 2026: Leading negotiations with Ukraine and Russia on the U.S. proposal

Zelensky just did something he once treated as untouchable: he offered to drop Ukraine's NATO bid. Not as surrender, but as a trade—Kyiv gives up the alliance path, and the West gives Ukraine legally binding protection strong enough to scare Moscow off for good.

Updated May 15

As of May 2026: Traveling to Berlin to align a U.S.-backed proposal with Kyiv and Europe

Ukrainian officials say more than 450 drones and about 30 missiles hit energy and port infrastructure overnight. Odesa and surrounding areas went dark.

Updated May 15

As of May 2026: Co‑author and shuttle diplomat for the U.S. peace framework

In early 2025, Trump launched an aggressive push to "end the war" in Ukraine. He tied resumed military aid and intelligence sharing to Kyiv's acceptance of a U.S.-drafted peace framework that includes territorial concessions to Russia and long-term limits on Ukraine's sovereignty.

Updated May 10

As of May 2026: Lead U.S. negotiator coordinating parallel tracks with Russia and Ukraine; reporting progress to Trump

By late December 2025, the controversial 28-point plan was replaced by a revised 20-point framework. Zelenskyy said it was '90 percent agreed' with Washington, with '100 percent' consensus on U.S.–Ukraine security guarantees.

Updated May 10

As of May 2026: Trump’s principal negotiator with the Kremlin on the peace framework

In late 2025, U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine was "really, really close." Two disputes remain: the fate of Donbas, especially Ukrainian-held areas in Donetsk, and the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (Russia-occupied and the largest in Europe).

Updated May 10

As of May 2026: Trump's point person for implementing the Gaza ceasefire and political plan; announced phase two launch

Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel triggered a war that lasted more than two years. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect October 10, 2025. At least 460 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,200 injured since the truce began.

Updated May 10