Arriving in Moscow ahead of Donald Trump’s “ceasefire or suffer” Friday deadline for the Kremlin, Steve Witkoff might have wondered what he’s there for. To threaten? Reassure? Or repeat the cooing, craven performances he’s shown Vladimir Putin in the past?
The US president has been taking a much tougher line, in public, when it comes to getting Russia to wind down its war against Ukraine, in a shift away from the blatantly pro-Putin stand of his earlier presidency.