<p>Steve Witkoff’s flattery of the Russian leader could be just the start of a mendacious stratagem from a US president who says Moscow ‘has been fine on Ukraine’</p><p>They say the first casualty of war is truth. For the Trump administration, the road to peace with Russia now encompasses some extraordinary lies.</p><p>Steve Witkoff delivered one as he sat down with Vladimir Putin in his native St Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to close the deal on Russia’s land grab in Ukraine with the White House’s strategy of maximum pressure on Kyiv and saccharine flattery of the Kremlin.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/21/you-are-a-humanitarian-also-sir-us-putin-lies-ukraine-children-take-cover-and-die-witkoff">Continue reading...</a>
World
‘You are a humanitarian also, sir’: the US feeds Putin with lies as Ukraine’s children take cover and die | Andrew Roth
<p>Steve Witkoff’s flattery of the Russian leader could be just the start of a mendacious stratagem from a US president who says Moscow ‘has been fine on Ukraine’</p><p>They say the first casualty of war is truth. For the Trump administration, the road to peace with Russia now encompasses some extraordinary lies.</p><p>Steve Witkoff delivered one as he sat down with Vladimir Putin in his native St Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to close the deal on Russia’s land grab in Ukraine with the White House’s strategy of maximum pressure on Kyiv and saccharine flattery of the Kremlin.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/21/you-are-a-humanitarian-also-sir-us-putin-lies-ukraine-children-take-cover-and-die-witkoff">Continue reading...</a>