Russians made concessions almost immediately at first Alaska meeting – Witkoff
Photo: US Presidential Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (Getty Images)
Russia made concessions almost immediately during the summit in Alaska. The parties “actually made progress” on how to move toward a peace agreement, US Presidential Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff says to Fox News.
“But there were concessions almost immediately made on the part of the Russians in the first meeting in Alaska. Part of getting those concessions was learning whether we were going to be able to see the Russians prepared to be more accommodating,” Witkoff said.
According to the US Presidential Special Envoy, during the meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska, “we actually made progress on how we might get to a peace deal.”
Witkoff believes that a ceasefire deal is “very, very easy to break because it doesn’t have all the ingredients attached to it.”
“A peace agreement is different. It’s much stronger. And at that meeting in Alaska, the president began to feel that we had agreed on many of the prerequisites for a peace agreement, so why not pursue a full peace deal? And of course, in this crazy world, he was criticized for that. I was sitting there watching it, and honestly, I was amazed,” US Presidential Special Envoy noted.
Zelenskyy-Putin meeting
Trump and Putin met in Alaska on August 15. On August 18, the US President held talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, followed by a meeting with European leaders.
Later that same day, Trump phoned Putin to discuss organizing negotiations with Zelensky. Russia is insisting on holding a bilateral meeting first.
Possible venues for the talks include Geneva, Rome, Hungary, and Doha. Switzerland has already confirmed its readiness to host the summit, while Austria has also stated it is prepared to provide a platform for a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting.
