Witkoff faces backlash for calling Putin ‘humanitarian’: ’embarrassing and outrageous’

US special envoy Steve Witkoff faces immediate backlash for hailing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” after freeing a 74-year-old man. Stephen Hubbardan American imprisoned in Russia for four years and determined to be wrongly detained.

“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, that he is a humanitarian,” Witkoff told Putin on Wednesday in response to Hubbard’s release. “You are also a humanitarian, sir, and I salute you, I congratulate you and I thank you again.”

Witkoff made the comment in St. Petersburg during a visit with the Russian president that aimed to move toward a resolution to the war in Ukraine that Putin started four and a half years ago. Over the past month, Russia has been intensify its strikes against civilian and energy infrastructure in an attempt to paralyze the power grid ahead of the brutal Ukrainian winter.

Witkoff’s “humanitarian” comment sparked an immediate backlash from Republicans who openly criticized the president and his administration.

“WTF, Steve?” »wrote North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis. “Look up the definition of “humanitarian.” What an embarrassing and scandalous thing to say. You should go back to Ukraine and ask the families of the children Putin kidnapped and murdered if they agree that your friend Putin is a “humanitarian.” »

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas responded to a video of Witkoff’s comments: “No. Putin is a cold killer,” he wrote on X.

“Another embarrassment,” said Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who has criticized the Trump administration’s handling of Russia and Ukraine.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor, who served under the Bush and Obama administrations, said in an interview with CBS News that it was “absolutely a good thing” for Hubbard to return home, “but he should never have been there in the first place.”

“We should not give the Russians any credit for freeing someone who should not have been in prison,” Taylor said. “And to call Putin a humanitarian is despicable.”

Witkoff’s praise for Putin also comes as Mr. Trump made the surprise decision last week to lift new US sanctions against Russia two days before they took effect, defying Congress and his late friend, Senator Lindsey Graham. The waivers came a week after Mr. Trump eased sanctions against Russian diesel and announced a deal with Putin to import diesel into the US market.

Mr. Trump expressed growing frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said Tuesday that “Russia, frankly, is doing well with Ukraine. They haven’t done much.”

Before traveling to Russia, Witkoff was in Oslo, Norway, where he met and embraced Zelensky. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the meeting “positive.”