US President’s special envoy Steven Witkoff said that, over eight visits to Russia, American negotiators were treated with respect there. He said this in response to a question from Dmytro Gordon about whether it seems to him that Vladimir Putin is fooling him and whether he finds it distasteful to sit at the table with him.
Witkoff said that relationships with all sides are critically important for resolving conflicts. Otherwise, it will be difficult to find a peaceful solution.
He described the discussion with Vladimir Putin as successful.
“My job and Jared’s job is to bring the sides together, reduce the problems and find channels of communication. I hope we have begun this process constructively over the past 48 hours,” he said.
Witkoff added that the United States is seeking a diplomatic end to the war, not one on the battlefield.
“We have made some progress in Moscow; we have new ideas,” he said.
The special envoy hopes that trilateral talks will soon resume.
“There are many ideas we discussed in Moscow and that we have brought here to Kyiv,” Steven Witkoff added.
- Steven Witkoff has repeatedly expressed support for the Kremlin leader. He has travelled to Russia many times, but until today he had not been to Ukraine.
- According to Bloomberg, last year Witkoff advised Putin on how to present a peace plan.
- In November, the United States also brought proposals on peace from Moscow. Some points were unacceptable to Ukraine: reducing the army, abandoning the course towards NATO and withdrawing troops from Donbas.