Witkoff Opens Up on His Discussions with Putin

(MENAFN) Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy, has declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been consistently forthright throughout their diplomatic exchanges, asserting that a durable peace settlement in Ukraine hinges entirely on a frank understanding of Moscow's position.

Speaking to Fox News Saturday, Witkoff — who has emerged as the central architect of Washington's back-channel diplomacy with the Kremlin — reflected candidly on his repeated personal meetings with the Russian leader. "He's never been anything other than straight with me," he said. "I say that and I get attacked, but that's an accurate statement."

The envoy defended the frequency of his engagements with Putin, pushing back against critics who have questioned the approach. "I got attacked for meeting him eight times," he noted. "How can you make a deal without knowing where the other side is coming from? I needed to understand his motivations and goals." Witkoff added that Putin had laid out his red lines with clarity, and that meaningful negotiations were impossible without both parties grasping each other's core objectives.

Looking ahead, Witkoff raised the prospect of a landmark direct summit between Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, signaling cautious optimism over a potential breakthrough. "I hope that we've put some proposals on the table to both sides that will bring them together in the next three weeks," he said, adding that the format "might end up being a trilateral at some point with the President [Trump]." He closed with a notably upbeat note: "Hopefully, you'll be hearing some good news in the coming weeks."

A face-to-face encounter between the two wartime leaders, however, remains deeply contentious. Russia has insisted any such meeting take place in Moscow while pledging to guarantee Zelensky's personal safety — conditions Kiev has flatly and categorically rejected.

Witkoff's remarks follow his leadership of the US delegation at the third round of trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine negotiations held in Geneva. He subsequently described the outcome as representing "meaningful progress." Ahead of those talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had signaled that territorial disputes would feature prominently on the agenda.

Russia's stated conditions for any lasting settlement remain sweeping and politically combustible: Ukraine must withdraw from territory it still controls in Donbass — four regions that voted to join Russia in 2022 — and formally commit to neutrality, demilitarization, and what Moscow terms denazification. Russia has further demanded that Kiev recognize its newly claimed borders as sovereign Russian territory.

MENAFN22022026000045017169ID1110772595