Witkoff Flew to See Putin with Diplomatic Treats and Fertilizer Pitches
Just when one thought diplomacy couldn't get weirder, envoys are shuttling between secret talks, imperial palaces, and haggling over prisoners and dirt food.
Steve Witkoff, fresh off a private sit-down with Ukrainian leadership in Oslo, touched down in St. Petersburg for his ninth face-to-face with Vladimir Putin. Jared Kushner was supposed to join the ride, but conveniently called in sick.
To set the mood right off the bat, the Kremlin boss announced the immediate release of Stephen Hubbard, a 73-year-old American sentenced to nearly seven years for allegedly joining Ukrainian territorial defense. He was already packed and waiting on the tarmac.
The conversation quickly drifted into bizarre diplomatic barter: Witkoff passed along warm regards from Donald Trump over some obscure "diesel deal," while Putin seized the moment to pitch massive shipments of Russian fertilizer to American farms and sent heartfelt thanks to Melania Trump for handling humanitarian backchannels.
Nothing says high-stakes geopolitics quite like swapping hostages, discussing ceasefire roadmaps, and pitching cow manure all in the same breath.
Source: BBC
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