Downing Street rejects Trump negotiator's 'humanitarian' description of Putin

When asked about Witkoff’s description of Putin, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “We certainly do not recognise that characterisation, and President Putin has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own Russian people, who he has sent to their deaths on the frontline. He is starving children and the elderly of the heat and warmth, and systematically targeting critical national infrastructure. Ukraine’s foreign minister summed it up well this morning when he said: ‘This night, the residents of Kyiv heard what Russian humanitarianism really sounds like.’”

Downing Street’s remarks came after the Scottish secretary, Douglas Alexander, told LBC that Britain viewed Putin as “somebody who illegally invaded Ukraine at the start of this conflict, who has been responsible for conduct by his government that included attempted assassinations on UK soil”. Alexander added: “We simply do not recognise the description of Vladimir Putin as a humanitarian.”

After Witkoff met Putin, Russia agreed to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the US in principle. Trump has suggested Russia and Ukraine are “maybe now the closest we’ve been” to ending the war. Despite this, Russia has continued to launch missile attacks at Ukraine, including a drone strike on Kharkiv as Putin and Witkoff spoke.