Special envoy of US President Donald Trump Steve Witkoff suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin be open to the “permanent peace” agreement with Ukraine. This comes after high -level interviews in St. Petersburg aimed at ending more than a three -year conflict.
“Putin’s request is to have a permanent peace. So for a ceasefire, we got an answer,” Witkoff told Fox News on Monday. “I think we could be on the brink of something that would be very, very important to the world in general.”
The third meeting with Putin since January
Witkoff’s notes follow his third meeting with Putin because President Trump returned to the White House in January. The interviews that took place on Friday also concerned higher Russian officials Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev.
Witkoff described the latest discussions as “convincing meetings” and underlining that it took this point “It took a while to get here”.
Business ties some of the conversations
In addition to the political dialogue, Witkoff revealed that commercial interests were part of the negotiating table, suggesting that economic incentives could help stabilize the region.
“I believe there is a possibility to transform relations with Russian united states through some very convincing business opportunities, which I think also gives the region real stability,” he said.
Diplomatic pressure
Despite the positive tone, Trump’s administration tried to ensure any main concessions from the Kremlin. Last month, Putin rejected a common American-Ukrainian proposal for a complete and unconditional ceasefire.
The disputed demands on the ceasefire and Ukraine
Interviews occur in the middle of a weak agreement on the ceasefire. Ukrainian officials reportedly sent Washington a list of Russian strikes to energy infrastructure, claiming a breach of the contract on the ceasefire last month. While Putin said he was open to the full ceasefire, allegedly insisted on the main conditions:
- No NATO membership for Ukraine
- The limits of the Ukrainian army
- Russian sovereignty in four attacked Ukrainian regions
- Kyiv rejected these requirements firmly.
Future Meeting Trump-Putin discussed
The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a potential personal meeting between Trump and Putin was made during the interviews. While both leaders spoke by phone, they did not meet in person from Trump’s return to the White House in January.
(Tagstotranslate) US President Donald Trump
