The use of the Kremlin translator is a “very bad idea” who put Witkoff “in a really unfavorable situation,” said former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.
Witkoff “broke the long -term protocol, not hiring his own translator during three high -level meetings with Vladimir Putin in Russia, deciding instead to use Russian translators” – said the American official and two representatives of Western conversations.
– If in the presence of Witkoff was spoke Russian, he simply did not have the opportunity to know what he was talking about – commented one of the interlocutors of NBC. The envoy of the American president conducted talks in Russia about Ukraine three times – in February, March and April this year.
Trump's representative took the risk
“Witkoff, a former peer of the real estate market and cryptocurrency trader, does not speak Russian,” the station pointed out. Using the Kremlin translators, he risked that some nuances in Putin's messages would be overlooked and will not be able to independently verify what was said to him – the two former US ambassadors explained.
McFaul pointed out that he knew Russian and always listened to the translators of the Kremlin and the USA, and what they said was never the same. The former US ambassador to Russia noticed that the presence of a US translator also provides a more accurate record for the rest of the government, known as the conversation memerandum.
