Spreading Russian narratives: Zelenskyy criticizes Trump’s special envoy

According to Zelenskyy, Witkoff has adopted the Russian side’s strategy. He believes this is very dangerous, as Witkoff is “consciously or unconsciously spreading Russian narratives.”

At the same time, Zelenskyy stated that Witkoff has no mandate to discuss Ukrainian territories.

"Because they are ours, they belong to the Ukrainian people — not only to us, but also to future generations of Ukrainians. We’ve heard all of this nonsense from Mr. Putin before. I didn’t think he had people who would continue spreading these narratives in other countries. That’s why I don’t take this seriously," the president said.

Witkoff’s statements

Last week, US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Russia, where he met with Russia’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Following that, he held nearly five hours of talks with Vladimir Putin.

Against this backdrop, Reuters reported that Witkoff believes the fastest path to peace in Ukraine is allegedly to grant Russia ownership of four eastern Ukrainian regions. He reportedly presented this position to US President Donald Trump.

Later, The Wall Street Journal reported that there might be a split within Trump’s team. Some of his advisers urged greater caution regarding Moscow’s statements about a possible truce. Despite this, according to the media, Trump "still sides with envoy Steve Witkoff."

Just recently, Witkoff stated that the "key" to ending the war in Ukraine lies in the so-called "five territories."

"This peace agreement is about the so-called five territories, but there's a lot more to it. There are security protocols, there's Article 5 of NATO, a lot of details. It's a complicated situation, rooted in some real problematic things that are happening between the two countries," he said.