Witkoff speaks on Zelenskyy–Putin meeting and gives potential deadline

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According to him, this is a silly war where the sides are arguing over territory and cannot find a consensus on this issue.

“We are hopeful that we put some proposals on the table to both sides that will bring them together in the next three weeks and maybe even result in a settlement between Zelenskyy and Putin. They might end up being a trilateral; we will have to see,” the US presidential envoy said.

Witkoff also noted that Donald Trump does not want to hold meetings if he understands that they will not produce any results.

“He uniquely has the power to do that. So hopefully you will hear some good news in the coming,” he emphasized.

Witkoff also said he was often criticized for frequently meeting with Kremlin head Vladimir Putin. In his defense, he said that in order to reach an agreement, he needed to clearly understand the other side’s position, which is why he met with Putin eight times.

Peace negotiations

Several days ago, peace talks between Russia, the US, and Ukraine were held in Geneva. Regarding the military track, some progress was reportedly made on monitoring the ceasefire, etc., but the political side remains problematic.

The parties have scheduled another meeting in Geneva in the near future.

The most difficult issues in achieving peace are territorial questions and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The Kremlin insists that Ukraine should surrender Donbas, even including non-occupied territories, but Kyiv is strongly opposed to this.

Recently, Moscow even stated that it wants global recognition of Donbas as part of Russia.