More from the article...

... Witkoff has emerged as one of the main players in the Trump administration's negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, and recently traveled to Moscow to meet with Putin. ...

Witkoff had already drawn some backlash for seeming to use Russian talking points to justify the argument that Ukraine may need to relinquish the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions -- the first two taken at the start of the February 2022 invasion and the latter two taken subsequently during the war. All of this is subsequent to Moscow invading Crimea in 2014 and holding it to this day.

In his interview with Carlson, Witkoff cited referendums held in those regions after their capture in which they said they wanted to be under Russian control -- referendums the U.S. and Western allies have condemned as illegitimate. He also said that they are "Russian-speaking" regions in which Russia has "de facto control."

He doubled down on his position during his Fox News Sunday interview, telling Bream that Russia views these areas as Russian territory and the referendums "justify these actions."

"I just don't see that he [Putin] wants to take all of Europe... I take him at his word in this sense, and I believe the Europeans are beginning to come to that belief, too," he said. ...