Geopolitics

Even if we ignore the official U.S. position and just look at Whitkoff as a negotiator, he’s a pretty bad choice. He doesn’t really understand politics well, a soft personality when he meets someone that in his mind has heavier position. Is easily manipulated.
He can’t stand his ground or stick to his point with Putin. His body language reveals a deep-seated insecurity. On a personal level he sees his Putin as the dominant. I’m pretty sure about that.
That’s kind of funny, considering he represents the U.S., which is way more powerful than Russia in every way.

His body language screams “victim.” lol

cognitive science, functional contextualism, tattarrattat

I doubt he’s actually negotiating anything, but they could have picked someone who would at least make it look like he might; Witkoff is clearly just trying not to die there