Fair play: Steve Witkoff. A traveler focused on Putin managed thousands of properties, now a studio apartment in Donetsk is in play

First, Donald Trump wanted to resolve the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, which many people may have believed, but omitting cognitive abilities happens to everyone occasionally. Nevertheless, Trump's administration did not give up its efforts to resolve the war with hundreds of thousands of dead on both sides.

Last week, Trump sent his specialist for visiting Putin in Moscow, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow. The US president's envoy for the Middle East visited Moscow for a total of fifth time.

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International relations as real estate business and translation problems

Since an international arrest warrant has been issued for Putin to appear in court in The Hague, his doors are not exactly bursting with politicians. Witkoff has visited him more times during the period when the current administration is in office than, for example, the quarrelsome prime ministers of Slovakia and Hungary. His activity cannot be denied, but his last visit was mainly ridiculed, as he likely became a victim of "translation", which is a really unusual suspicion at such a high level of international diplomacy.

"Is the White House really certain it is negotiating a meeting in Alaska, and not returning Alaska?"

Former Minister of Finance Miroslav Kalousek wrote this on X with irony.

The retired politician probably hinted at the planned summit in Alaska, where Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are supposed to meet. Although the US President is once again not saving his comments about how he has a prepared agreement with the Russians who are blocking any peace efforts in Ukraine, it is not entirely known what actually Witkoff brought from Moscow, so it could possibly be about something else.

Alaska was originally a Russian territory. The Americans bought it in 1867, only to subsequently discover extensive oil reserves there. This extraordinarily good deal (bad, from the perspective of Russia, of course) is not bad to put in the context of Witkoff's original profession.

Putin, a studio apartment in Donetsk, and a bloody business

He is a trained lawyer, who however made a big career in the real estate business. At its peak in this business, he managed over 3,000 properties. In the real estate business it may be said that it's not only an art to own, but also to sell well. That means with a profit.

After all, Witkoff knows Trump from his real estate business, and that's precisely why he called him into his administration. The question hanging over the Alaskan action, then, is will real estate moguls Trump and Witkoff sell Ukraine to Russia? Or will they force Putin to pay high rent for the blood-soaked lands in eastern Ukraine?

Of course, there is also a third solution. And that is that nothing will happen again. This would be suggested by the course of past negotiations. Putin will once again talk the real estate manager into believing that he will really pay the rent next time, and in illegally inhabited Ukraine, he will continue to do as he pleases. Putin, after all, made it clear he wants a vassal state of Ukraine and a sphere of influence in central and eastern Europe. The small apartment in Donetsk will not satisfy him by itself.

Ukrainians with European leaders behind them, and Trump is now willing to talk with them, don't want to give up even a bedsit. At least not cheaply. If Trump really billed the promised 100% secondary duties for his unwillingness to listen to his managerial service, the whole deal might start to look a little different. But who knows if the real estate hussle will get lost again in translation.

Sources: author's text, commentary, BBC, The Washington Post, X, Observer, ČTK