Witkoff sparks controversy with statement on 'the largest issue' of the war in Ukraine
Photo: US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (Getty Images)
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff made a scandalous statement about the war in Ukraine. He called it the main “issue” in his interview with Tucker Carlson.
According to him, the biggest problem in Russia's war against Ukraine is the issue of Crimea and the “four regions” where the Russians held illegal “referendums” on joining Russia.
“I think the largest issue in that conflict are these so-called four regions - Donbas, Crimea, Luhansk, and there's two others (probably Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions - ed.). They are Russian-speaking, there have been referendums (illegal, held by Russia- ed.). I think that's the key issue in the conflict,” he said.
Also, speaking about the “referendums” held by the invaders in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, Witkoff assures that “the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.”
Trump's representative added that “no one wants to talk about it” and called it “the elephant in the room.”
“The elephant in the room is, there are constitutional issues within Ukraine as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory. The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. The question is, will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Will it end up? Can Zelenskyy survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict,” said Witkoff.
Witkoff's statements on the war in Ukraine
It is not the first time that Witkoff has voiced controversial theses on Ukraine. He disagreed with statements by Western leaders about Russia's unwillingness to end the war in Ukraine. In his opinion, there are “good trends” for reaching a peace agreement in the near future.
Witkoff also believes that Russia is not seeking to absorb all of Ukraine, as the Russians have “returned” five regions and Crimea and got what they needed.
