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US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steven Witkoff, stated that Washington's efforts to facilitate negotiations to end the war in Ukraine could lead to a personal meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, within the next three weeks. He made this announcement on Fox News on Saturday, February 21.
According to Witkoff, the American side is optimistic about the prospects of the negotiation process. He noted that, together with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, who is also involved in contacts with Kyiv and Moscow, he hopes for a rapprochement between the two sides within the next three weeks. He believes this could pave the way for a high-level summit between Ukraine and Russia.
Witkoff also did not rule out the possibility of a trilateral meeting with Trump if he sees a real prospect of concluding a peace agreement. However, the special envoy emphasized that the American leader is unlikely to participate in negotiations without confidence in the ability to bring the process to a concrete conclusion and, in his words, achieve the best possible outcome.
Witkoff also addressed criticism of his repeated personal meetings with Vladimir Putin. He stated that it is impossible to reach an agreement without understanding the other side's position. He asserted that to advance negotiations, he needed to understand the motivations and goals of the Russian leadership. Witkoff noted that during his personal meetings, the Russian president, he asserted, was frank and directly outlined his "red lines."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously repeatedly expressed his willingness to meet in person with Vladimir Putin. However, he has rejected offers to hold such a meeting in Moscow and, in turn, invited the Russian president to Kyiv. Several days ago, Zelenskyy announced that he had instructed his negotiating team to raise the issue of a high-level meeting.
The Ukrainian leader called personal negotiations with the Russian president the most effective way to achieve progress in resolving the territorial issue. He said he instructed that the possibility of organizing a meeting between the two leaders in Geneva, on neutral territory, be discussed.
In late January, Zelenskyy also stated that resolving territorial issues in negotiations with Russia was impossible without direct contact with the Kremlin leader. He emphasized the need to maintain contacts with the Russian Federation in one format or another, including dialogue with its leader, since, in his opinion, without such a format, the negotiating teams would be unable to reach agreements on territorial issues.
