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

The Bulwark · collected 2026-09-10 · by Sam Stein commentary
Read the original at The Bulwark ↗

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 by the local model 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).

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
7
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
14%
1 of 7 hedged
Leaning
Leans right
expected in commentary, which argues a position
Publisher trust
not scored
Commentary is not rated for newsroom trust
Outlets on this story
67
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-09-10 · how these are computed

AI analysis (generated at analysis time, not now)

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 2026-09-10, grounded in this article and the 66 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Score +0.35 Confidence high
Leaning score +0.35 for article 7551 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-09-10

Story

📰 US Peace Efforts in Ukraine
Politics · 67 article(s) covering the same event. This is the one the site leads with.

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (US)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 20% hedged 3 of 15 📰 publisher trust 95
“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”
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 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.”
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 96
“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”
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 27 📰 publisher trust 94
“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”
NPR
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 21% hedged 5 of 24 📰 publisher trust 59
“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”
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 23% hedged 5 of 22 📰 publisher trust 60
“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”
South China Morning Post
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 14% hedged 1 of 7 📰 publisher trust 94
“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”
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 25 📰 publisher trust 95
“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”
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 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”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 12 📰 publisher trust 96
“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”

Publisher

The Bulwark · 86 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
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Plus, Weiss explains why the reality on the battlefield may be considerably worse for Putin than the conventional wisdom suggests.
🔮 If you think Sam, Sonny, Catherine and Will deserve a little bit of compensation for their suffering, consider becoming a Bulwark+ member.
2026-09-10 · assertive framing · Live Coverage of Trump's Midterm Convention Speech
🔮 Sam Stein and Will Sommer preview Trump’s strangely low-energy midterm convention, where Republicans are skipping town, lawmakers are being asked to cough up $25,000, and even the convention website has become an embarrassment.
🔮 These stories are a reminder of why independent media matters right now: when government power is being used to intimidate reporters—and some of the country’s most powerful media and tech figures would rather accommodate Trump than confront him—we need outlets willing to call it what it is.
Also by Sam Stein
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 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.

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
Your support helps keep our work sustainable and available to those who cannot afford a membership. asserted
who → help → membership
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