Steve Witkoff

White House Special Envoy for Peace Missions - Concluded third round Geneva talks Feb 26 without deal; faces strike decision window

Iran and the United States held initial indirect nuclear talks in Muscat, Oman on February 6, 2026, mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the discussions as a 'very good start,' with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner exchanging positions through intermediaries on Iran's nuclear program.

Updated Yesterday

U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East; Executive Board Member - Leading diplomatic outreach for Board of Peace membership

The United Nations has served as the primary venue for international conflict resolution since 1945. On January 22, 2026, President Trump launched an alternative: the Board of Peace, a body he chairs for life, where permanent membership costs $1 billion and he alone holds veto power over all decisions. Nearly a month ago on February 19, member states pledged $5 billion toward Gaza reconstruction and thousands of personnel for security forces at the inaugural meeting held at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington.

Updated Feb 19

Trump's Special Envoy for Ukraine Peace - Leading U.S. peace negotiation efforts

Russia continues massive winter strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians amid advancing trilateral peace talks. A week after the February 4-5 Abu Dhabi round yielded a 314-POW exchange and US-Russia military dialogue, Russia launched major attacks including 408 drones/39 missiles on February 6-7 targeting energy substations and the February 13 assault with 219 drones/24 missiles killing one in Odesa. Zelenskyy accused Russia of bad faith while confirming a third round of talks for next week.

Updated Feb 13

US Special Envoy for the Middle East - Leading American negotiating team in Iran talks

Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington this week with a single message: any deal with Iran must go beyond uranium. After three hours in the Oval Office on February 11, President Trump emerged saying 'nothing definitive' was reached—but negotiations would continue. Netanyahu signed onto Trump's Board of Peace initiative and extracted a promise of continued talks, though Iran insists its ballistic missiles remain off the table.

Updated Feb 11

United States Special Envoy - Leading U.S. peace mediation efforts

Russia began systematically targeting Ukraine's power grid in October 2022. By early February 2026, after a brief U.S.-brokered pause ended on February 2, Russia launched its largest energy strikes of the year—over 70 missiles and 450 drones—hitting thermal plants in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa regions amid temperatures near -20°C, leaving over 1,000 Kyiv buildings without heat and power; strikes continued with a massive February 6-7 barrage (39 missiles, 408 drones) damaging DTEK plants (10th attack since October) and substations critical to nuclear power, blacking out 600,000 in Lviv.

Updated Feb 11

U.S. Special Envoy; Trump's lead negotiator on Ukraine - Actively brokering peace talks between Russia and Ukraine

The United States and Russia agreed on February 5, 2026, to reestablish high-level military communication that had been suspended since fall 2021. The channel gives General Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. European Command, a direct line to General Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia's General Staff—restoring a mechanism designed to prevent miscalculation between two nuclear-armed militaries operating in proximity across Europe, the Arctic, and the Black Sea.

Updated Feb 6

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East - Leading Phase 2 implementation of Gaza peace plan

Israel recovered the remains of Ran Gvili on January 26, 2026, ending the 843-day hostage crisis that began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack. Prime Minister Netanyahu declared in the Knesset on January 27 that 'There are no more hostages in Gaza.' The Hostages and Missing Families Forum halted activities after this closure.

Updated Feb 5

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East - In active communication with Iranian Foreign Minister

Iran's nationwide uprising, which began when Tehran's bazaaris marched on December 28, 2025, was crushed through what may be the deadliest massacre in the Islamic Republic's history. While early reports during the internet blackout confirmed 572 deaths, evidence emerging after partial internet restoration in late January reveals at least 6,126 people killed according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency—with some estimates ranging from 12,000 to over 36,500. Most deaths occurred during a 48-hour period on January 8-9 when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Basij forces opened fire on protesters across all 31 provinces. On January 17, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly acknowledged 'several thousand' people had been killed, while President Trump called him a 'sick man' and declared 'it's time to look for new leadership in Iran.' Over 42,000 have been detained, with at least 52 executions already carried out and the judiciary threatening swift trials for thousands more under 'mohareb' (enemy of God) charges.

Updated Jan 31

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East - Trump's point person for implementing the Gaza ceasefire and political plan; announced phase two launch

After more than two years of devastating war triggered by Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that began on October 10, 2025 has paused large-scale hostilities in Gaza but remains deeply fragile, with at least 460 Palestinians killed and over 1,200 injured since the truce took effect. On January 14, 2026, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff announced the launch of phase two of the President's 20‑point peace plan, establishing a 15‑member Palestinian technocratic committee led by Ali Shaath, a former Palestinian Authority deputy minister, to assume day-to-day governance of Gaza. Nickolay Mladenov, former UN Middle East envoy, was appointed director-general of the Board of Peace, the international transitional authority mandated by the UN Security Council to oversee Gaza's demilitarization, reconstruction and political transition. On January 21, the Board announced a concrete 3-5 month timeline for disarmament, with Hamas expected to receive an ultimatum demanding surrender of all weapons. Hamas announced on January 12 that it will dissolve its government once the new Palestinian body takes over, calling the decision 'clear and final,' but has refused to surrender its small arms, stating it will only fully disarm once a Palestinian state is established.

Updated Jan 26

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East - Announced Phase Two launch

Hamas has governed Gaza since June 2007. On January 15, 2026, a 15-member committee of Palestinian technocrats—none affiliated with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority—held its first meeting in Cairo. The next day, President Trump announced the Board of Peace's executive membership: himself as chair, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and others. By January 17, the arrangement had triggered a rare public dispute with Israel—Netanyahu's office declared the Board's composition "was not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy."

Updated Jan 18

US Special Envoy to the Middle East - Leading phase two ceasefire negotiations

A severe winter storm killed at least 8 Palestinians in Gaza on January 13, 2026, collapsing war-damaged walls onto tent camps and freezing children to death overnight. The dead include a 7-day-old infant, a 1-year-old boy, and a 4-year-old girl who died of hypothermia—the latest in at least 23 cold-weather deaths since winter began. Over 1.1 million people remain in urgent need of shelter assistance as 81% of Gaza's structures have been destroyed or damaged.

Updated Jan 16

U.S. Special Envoy for Peace in Ukraine - Lead U.S. negotiator coordinating parallel tracks with Russia and Ukraine; reporting progress to Trump

By late December 2025, months of intensive U.S.–Ukraine–Russia shuttle diplomacy produced a breakthrough: the controversial 28‑point plan that had alarmed Kyiv and European allies was replaced by a revised 20‑point framework that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was "90 percent agreed" with Washington, including "100 percent" consensus on U.S.–Ukraine security guarantees. The new framework—hammered out through parallel Miami sessions with Ukrainian officials led by Rustem Umerov and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, then refined in a December 28 Mar‑a‑Lago summit between Trump and Zelenskyy—offers Ukraine NATO Article 5‑style security guarantees for at least 15 years, maintains Ukraine's 800,000‑strong military, and envisions a demilitarized zone along current battle lines in Donetsk overseen by international monitors. On January 8, 2026, Zelenskyy announced that the bilateral U.S.–Ukraine security guarantee document is now "essentially ready" to be finalized at the highest level with President Trump.

Updated Jan 11

U.S. Special Envoy to Russia-Ukraine Negotiations - Leading peace talks with Russia on behalf of Trump administration

On December 28, President Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy projected cautious optimism at Mar-a-Lago, announcing 90% agreement on a revised 20-point peace framework—but the next day Russia claimed Ukraine attacked Putin's residence with drones, a charge Kyiv denies as fabricated to sabotage talks. The alleged attack crystallizes the fragility of negotiations: even as diplomats inch toward compromise, the shadow war continues and Moscow weaponizes accusations to "toughen" its bargaining position. Nearly four years after invasion, the question isn't whether a deal is close—it's whether either side can stop fighting long enough to sign one.

Updated Dec 31, 2025

U.S. Special Envoy (reported) for Ukraine talks - Leading negotiations with Ukraine and Russia on the U.S. proposal

Zelensky just did something he once treated as untouchable: he offered to drop Ukraine’s NATO bid. Not as surrender, but as a trade—Kyiv gives up the alliance path, and the West gives Ukraine legally binding protection strong enough to scare Moscow off for good.

Updated Dec 14, 2025

U.S. envoy for Ukraine-Russia peace talks - Traveling to Berlin to align a U.S.-backed proposal with Kyiv and Europe

Russia didn’t just strike Ukraine overnight. It tried to turn the lights off on a whole region. Ukrainian officials say more than 450 drones and about 30 missiles slammed energy and port infrastructure, pushing Odesa and surrounding areas into blackout.

Updated Dec 13, 2025

Trump special envoy on Ukraine - Co‑author and shuttle diplomat for the U.S. peace framework

In early 2025, returning U.S. President Donald Trump launched an aggressive push to "end the war" in Ukraine, tying resumed military aid and intelligence sharing to Kyiv’s acceptance of a U.S.-drafted peace framework that includes territorial concessions to Russia and long-term limits on Ukraine’s sovereignty. The plan, revised through months of talks in Jeddah, Geneva and Florida, would effectively trade parts of the Donbas and other occupied areas for security guarantees and a re‑set in U.S.–Russia relations, and has been welcomed in Moscow but met with mounting alarm in Kyiv and across Europe.

Updated Dec 11, 2025

U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions / De facto lead envoy to Russia on Ukraine - Trump’s principal negotiator with the Kremlin on the peace framework

In late 2025, the Trump administration’s drive to broker an end to Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine entered a decisive phase. U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said a peace deal was “really, really close,” with only two core disputes left: the fate of the Donbas region—especially the remaining Ukrainian‑held parts of Donetsk—and the future of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest. Kellogg estimated over 2 million combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties since Russia’s 2022 invasion, as Moscow now holds roughly 19% of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea and most of Donbas.

Updated Dec 11, 2025