Steve Witkoff’s Groveling to Putin Was Painful to Watch (w/ Michael Weiss)

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Cite

Stein, S. (2026, September 10). Steve Witkoff’s Groveling to Putin Was Painful to Watch (w/ Michael Weiss). The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/steve-witkoffs-groveling-to-putin

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Bulwark · collected 2026-09-10 · by Sam Stein commentary

Quick Summary

The article, an opinion piece co-authored by Sam Stein and Michael Weiss, criticizes Steve Witkoff for allegedly "groveling" in a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The authors argue that this behavior reflects a growing power struggle within the Trump administration over Russia policy. CIA Director John Ratcliffe is portrayed as a potential counterweight to Witkoff's approach.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-10, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

US President Donald Trump has announced that his special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, will visit Russia and Ukraine this weekend as part of efforts to end the war between the two countries. According to Trump, the envoys will be bringing a proposal aimed at ending the war, although he did not elaborate on what the proposal entails. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that he will meet with the envoys on Sunday after they visit Moscow on Saturday to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The visits come amid ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, which have been fighting for several years. The war has resulted in significant human suffering and economic losses, and efforts to broker a peace deal have been ongoing for some time.

Trump's announcement was made in the Oval Office on Friday, where he also stated that his administration had an "idea for peace" but did not provide further details. Witkoff and Kushner are expected to meet with Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials during their visit to Kyiv, although there have been reports of concerns over safety due to Russian warnings.

In a separate development, Trump has also said that he wants European countries to pay back the US for military aid and munitions previously sent to Ukraine, which were provided free of charge. This comes amid concerns over depleted US stockpiles of ammunition, particularly in light of ongoing conflicts with Iran.

The visits by Witkoff and Kushner are seen as a significant development in efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, it remains unclear whether a lasting peace agreement can be reached given the complex nature of the conflict.

Written for “US Peace Efforts in Ukraine” on 2026-10-25, grounded in this article and the 66 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 US Peace Efforts in Ukraine
Politics · 67 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Witkoff, Kushner meet with Putin to discuss Ukraine war same event · 100%
ABC News (US)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 20% hedged 3 of 15 📰 publisher trust 70
“Both articles report on the meeting between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin, mentioning the same participants, location (implied by the context), and date is consistent within a few days”
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump’s envoys confronted during Kyiv visit over holding talks with ‘war criminal’ Putin same event · 100%
The Independent
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 3 of 46 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles report on the same meeting between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin, specifically mentioning the confrontation in Kyiv alongside Volodymyr Zelensky.”
U.S. envoys outlined ‘number of ideas’ on ending Ukraine war to Putin: Kremlin different event · 90%
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A refers to talks between US envoys and Putin about ending the Ukraine war, while Article B mentions Steve Witkoff's 'groveling meeting' with Putin, which is not mentioned in Article A”
Kremlin says Ukraine talks with US envoys were useful; no sign of breakthrough different event · 90%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 27 📰 publisher trust 68
“Article A describes a meeting on September 5, while Article B refers to an unspecified meeting of Steve Witkoff with Putin, but without mentioning a specific date”
Witkoff and Kushner call Kyiv talks 'substantive' after Moscow Putin meeting different event · 90%
NPR
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 21% hedged 5 of 24 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A describes meetings between Witkoff and Putin that took place after lengthy conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday, while Article B discusses a meeting between Witkoff and Putin without specifying the date or context”
Trump envoys say Ukraine talks were "very meaningful" after Moscow visit different event · 90%
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 23% hedged 5 of 22 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A describes Trump envoys holding 'meaningful discussions' in Ukraine after visiting Moscow, while Article B criticizes Steve Witkoff's meeting with Putin and mentions a growing power struggle inside the Trump administration”
Zelensky warns Ukraine war is likely to continue into winter after US talks different event · 90%
South China Morning Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 14% hedged 1 of 7 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A describes a meeting between Zelensky and US envoy Steve Witkoff after which Zelensky warns of continued war into winter, while Article B refers to a separate 'groveling meeting' between Witkoff and Putin”
Kushner, Witkoff set for Kyiv talks after Putin meeting in US push for peace different event · 90%
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 25 📰 publisher trust 67
“Article A describes the meeting between Zelenskyy and Witkoff after they met with Putin, while Article B discusses the groveling meeting between Witkoff and Putin itself”
US envoys Witkoff and Kushner set for talks in Kyiv after meeting with Putin in Moscow different event · 90%
The Independent
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 12 📰 publisher trust 59
“Article A describes a visit by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kyiv after meeting with Putin in Moscow, while Article B criticizes Witkoff's meeting with Putin but does not mention the subsequent visit to Kyiv”
Trump envoys hail ‘encouraging’ talks in Kyiv to end Russia-Ukraine war different event · 90%
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 12 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A describes talks between Trump envoys and Ukrainian officials in Kyiv on September 6, while Article B mentions a meeting between Witkoff and Putin without specifying date or location”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted
7
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
1 of 7 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
expected in commentary, which argues a position · beta estimate
Publisher signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
67
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-10 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Bulwark · 506 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Sam Stein
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 25 articles by Sam Stein →

Topics

CIA Financial Times Russia The Wall Street Journal Ukraine

Subjects

CIA ORG · 3× Michael Weiss PERSON · 3× Putin PERSON · 3× Russia GPE · 3× Steve Witkoff’s PERSON · 3× John Ratcliffe PERSON · 2× Sam Stein PERSON · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× Vladimir Putin PERSON · 2× Witkoff PERSON · 2×

Narrative

Financial Times — US spy chief prepares for greater role in Russia-Ukraine talks https://www.ft.com/content/d0557d25-78b5-45d8-bb33-d655e859d803 The Wall Street Journal — How Putin Got His Preferred U.S. Envoy: Come Alone, No CIA https://www.wsj.com/world/putin-witkoff-russia-envoy-04da229d Join Bulwark+ to unlock the rest Become a paying member of The Bulwark to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-10
🔮 Plus, Weiss explains why the reality on the battlefield may be considerably worse for Putin than the conventional wisdom suggests.
2026-09-10 · The Bulwark
Steve Witkoff’s Groveling to Putin Was Painful to Watch (w/ Michael Weiss) · assertive framing

Claims (7 extracted, 1 hedged)

Steve Witkoff’s Groveling to Putin Was Painful to Watch (w/ Michael Weiss) asserted
Groveling → watch → Weiss
Sam Stein and Michael Weiss take on Steve Witkoff’s groveling meeting with Vladimir Putin, the growing power struggle inside Trump’s administration over Russia, and why CIA Director John Ratcliffe is emerging as a counterweight to Witkoff’s approach. asserted
Ratcliffe → take → approach
Sam Stein and Michael Weiss take on Steve Witkoff’s groveling meeting with Vladimir Putin, the growing power struggle inside Trump’s administration over Russia, and why CIA Director John Ratcliffe is emerging as a counterweight to Witkoff’s approach. asserted
Ratcliffe → take → approach
Plus, Weiss explains why the reality on the battlefield may be considerably worse for Putin than the conventional wisdom suggests. uncertain
wisdom → explain → Putin
Financial Times — US spy chief prepares for greater role in Russia-Ukraine talks https://www.ft.com/content/d0557d25-78b5-45d8-bb33-d655e859d803 The Wall Street Journal — How Putin Got His Preferred U.S. Envoy: Come Alone, No CIA https://www.wsj.com/world/putin-witkoff-russia-envoy-04da229d Join Bulwark+ to unlock the rest Become a paying member of The Bulwark to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. asserted
Putin → prepare → post
A subscription gets you: - Unlimited access to articles and newsletters including The Triad by JVL and Receipts by Catherine Rampell. - Ad-free editions of our shows (with transcripts) and member-only shows like The Secret Podcast. asserted
subscription → get → Podcast
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who → help → membership
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