DONALD Trump’s Middle East envoy and key peace negotiator has blasted Sir Keir Starmer’s Ukraine peacekeeping plan as “Churchill-like posing”.

Steve Witkoff, 68, has also praised the sick tyrant Vladimir Putin as “super smart” in a blow to Ukraine.

The envoy bashed Britain and France’s plan to send peacekeepers to Ukraine to prevent another Russian invasion after a ceasefire if agreed.

It comes after Vice President JD Vance insulted dead British soldiers describing the UK as “some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”.

Witkoff said: “I think there’s this sort of notion of, we’ve all got to be like Winston Churchill.”

Instead of fighting to the end, Witkoff told YouTuber Tucker Carlson peace could be achieved through diplomacy.

Key to Witkoff’s belief is that he believes Putin has got what he wanted in Ukraine.

Witkoff said he thought it was “preposterous” that Putin wanted to “march across Europe” – despite tyrant Vlad saying he wanted to do that.

Putin has said he wants to recreate the Russian Empire and roll back Nato from Eastern Europe to return Moscow’s sphere of influence to the Soviet-era.

Witkoff naively said: “Why would they want to absorb Ukraine? For what purpose? They don’t need to absorb Ukraine.

“They’ve gotten, they’ve reclaimed these five regions. They have Crimea, and they’ve gotten what they want. So why do they need more?

“Putin is a very smart guy… He’s a super smart guy.”

Witkoff’s framing of Russia “reclaiming” five regions is erroneous as they are part of Ukraine.

Putin’s armies also do not fully control the five entire regions having been stopped in their tracks by the valiant Ukrainians in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson.

Brave Ukrainians have ground the Russian army to a halt by pioneering drone warfare and killed up to 250,000 of Vlad’s men.

Witkoff is a geopolitical novice having been appointed by Trump to the envoy position after a career in real estate.

He repeated a number of Kremlin talking points during the interview with Carlson, saying Ukraine was a “false country”.

The envoy also endorsed Russia’s sham referendums where locals in the five regions were forced by soldiers to vote to join Russia.

Witkoff met Putin 10 days ago but was kept waiting for eight humiliating hours before he could speak to the Russia.

“Super smart” Putin has bungled the invasion of Ukraine and is now having to enter peace negotiations to save face.

The three sides will be in Jeddah on Monday for further negotiations, but Ukraine and Russia will reportedly not be in the same room for talks.

Witkoff on Sunday expressed optimism ahead of the high-stakes talks, telling Fox News he believed Putin wanted peace.

Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are building a coalition of nations looking to back Ukraine after a ceasefire is sorted.

They’re preparing to send 10,000 peacekeepers to the country to prevent a third Russian invasion following 2014 and 2022.

Starmer has threatened Putin with “severe consequences” if the despot broke any peace deal.

But Putin has ruled out any peacekeepers in Ukraine as he eyes up coming back for more of Ukraine following any ceasefire.