Steve Witkoff faced criticsm for some of his comments made during his interview with Tucker Carlson.

Donald Trump’s envoy floundered as he tried to name the the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk which have been occupied by Russia following Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

He said the regions were “Russian-speaking” and that “there have been referendums where the majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule”, a reference to Kremlin-organised votes after the invasion.

Labour MP Neil Coyle said: “Many people in Florida and Texas speak Spanish but it would be idiotic and offensive to claim that they belong to Spain. Ukrainian territory belongs to the Ukrainian state alone.”

Lib Dem MP Sarah Green, who sits on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine, said: “Witkoff doesn’t care about Ukraine’s sovereignty. He’s more comfortable repeating Putin’s propaganda than supporting Ukraine’s heroic fighters and civilians.”

Former Tory MP Bob Seely said Mr Witkoff is “simply regurgitating Kremlin propaganda” aand should “apologise to Ukrainians”.

Broadcaster and author John Simpson said: “I’ve finally read Steve Witkoff’s long interview with Tucker Carlson about Gaza and Ukraine, which he’s supposedly negotiating on.

“It’s embarrassing — very little awareness of the complexities, and shockingly ignorant of detail. Carlson knows even less and can’t challenge him.”