Pundits on a Russian TV show appeared to mock US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after their visit to Kyiv and Russia.
Americanist Rafael Ordukhanyan, speaking at the show, suggested that Witkoff is too busy “buying the Los Angeles Lakers” and, ironically, wondered whether he found time for his business deals between political negotiations.
Ordukhanyan said: “I have a question. Is he resolving global conflicts in his free time between business deals, or is he making deals in his free time between resolving global issues?
“I am under the impression he will deal with Ukraine in between buying the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion. This is not serious. These people don’t know politics.”
Putin said the Russia-Ukraine situation was ‘not simple’. (Image: Getty)
Another pundit at the show, journalist Michael Bohm, said: “The only point of Witkoff and Kushner’s visit is to attempt to explain, once again, why Russia can’t be forced into peace.”
Nikolai Starikov, founder of the Great Fatherland Party, who was also at the show, added that “our best negotiators are our soldiers, diplomats should remember this”.
Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than three hours. The Kremlin later described the talks as “highly useful”. No details of any agreement, however, were announced.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the two men were carrying a new proposal aimed at ending the conflict. On Sunday, Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner also met President Zelenskyy.
The visit came after Putin ordered Russian forces not to strike Kyiv for three days from midnight Saturday. This was followed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s order not to attack Moscow through Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
The meetings also came after weeks of intense and heavy fighting. It is understood Putin told the American envoys that the situation was “not simple”.