“Insane”: Keith Edwards slams “Trump’s envoy” Steve Witkoff calling Vladimir Putin a “humanitarian”

Keith Edwards, the political commentator and strategist who has amassed more than one million subscribers on YouTube, is calling out Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff after a video surfaced of Witkoff praising Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” during peace talks in St. Petersburg. Edwards, who also commands a following of more than three hundred thousand on Threads and Instagram through his coverage of national events, had one reaction to the clip, and he described it as

“insane.”

As per a report shared by CNBC, Witkoff made the remarks on Wednesday, in a video posted to social media, during his third meeting with Putin in less than two months. He thanked the Russian president for having described President Donald Trump as a “humanitarian,” before returning the compliment directly, telling Putin,

“You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again.”

The talks were centered around reaching a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. That being said, it was that particular exchange that drew the most attention online. Edwards took to Threads to share his reaction, first writing,

“Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff praises Vladimir Putin as a ‘humanitarian.’”

He then added,

“This is f**king insane.”

American hostage freed as Trump envoy Witkoff sits down with Putin:

The St. Petersburg talks came with a significant development on the sidelines. At the start of the meeting, Russia announced it would release Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher who had been held on charges that he was a Ukrainian mercenary. The State Department had described Hubbard as “wrongfully detained.” Witkoff thanked Putin for the release, a situation which has left Vice President JD Vance also weighing in to defend the gesture.

Vance told reporters Wednesday morning that he had no issue with Witkoff expressing gratitude to Putin for Hubbard’s release, adding that the criticism around it didn’t concern him much.

“I care much less about what Steve said and about the fact that he is bringing an American hostage home to his family. We should all be celebrating that,” he shared.

As per a report shared by CNBC, the talks also took place a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made his position on the negotiations very clear. Speaking alongside the leaders of Finland and Norway in Oslo on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said discussions with U.S. officials had been constructive and that Washington had reaffirmed its commitment to Ukraine’s security guarantees. That being said, he was firm on one condition: Kyiv had to be part of any agreement concerning its own future.

“It can be acceptable only when we are at the table of negotiations,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy added that he had also raised the reported proposal of a trilateral meeting between the U.S., China, and Russia. He made his stance plain with five words.

“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” shared Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy also shared that the Oslo meeting had covered discussions around NATO’s Article 5, which states that an armed attack against one member constitutes an attack on all, as well as “different kinds of security guarantees” that Witkoff would be taking to the Russians.

“We will hear his feedback in one day,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump and Zelenskyy had traded public criticism:

The recent talks unfolded against a backdrop of growing friction between Washington and Kyiv. Trump had publicly accused Zelenskyy of not wanting peace, while the Ukrainian president had pushed back, arguing that Washington’s decision to ease sanctions on Russia, including a deal on diesel, was only risking a longer conflict.

Overnight, Russia struck energy and civilian targets across Ukraine, resulting in at least one casualty, as per local media reports. The strikes came in the wake of Trump’s claim on October 11 that he had brokered an “energy ceasefire,” an agreement whereby both countries would hold back from targeting each other’s energy infrastructure amid rising diesel prices. Ukraine had paused such attacks for three days before resuming them, citing the fact that Russian strikes had never actually stopped.

Trending

As per the report shared by CNBC, Zelenskyy confirmed on Tuesday that U.S. intelligence had resumed sharing early warnings of Russian attacks, a development that pointed to at least some continued cooperation between Washington and Kyiv despite the public tensions. Discussions were also ongoing over SpaceX’s Starlink connectivity and Patriot air defense systems.

That being said, the bigger picture remained complicated. Zelenskyy had made clear in Oslo that Ukraine would not accept any deal brokered without its direct involvement, while Trump and his envoy continued pushing forward with talks that Kyiv had not been invited to join.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback