Trump's special envoy said what is the main problem in achieving peace in Ukraine

In an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff expressed his opinion on the main problems that hinder the war and peace process in Ukraine. He noted that the territories occupied by Russia - Crimea, Donbass, Lugansk and two more regions (possibly Kherson and Zaporizhia) - are the biggest obstacles to achieving peace.

"Elephant in the room": Can Ukraine give up the territories?

According to Witkoff, the results of the referendums held in these territories (not recognized by the international community) showed that the majority of the population wants to join Russia. He compared the issue to an "elephant in the room," an issue that is obvious to everyone but not openly discussed.

"Nobody wants to talk about Ukraine giving up its territories. Russia controls these territories de facto, but will the world recognize them as Moscow's? If Zelensky accepts this, will he be politically viable? This is the central issue in the conflict," said Witkoff.

Western and Russian positions

With these remarks, Witkoff expressed his disagreement with Western leaders' views that Russia does not want to end the war. He noted that there are "good trends" for reaching a peace agreement in the near future. He also argued that Russia does not want to occupy all of Ukraine, but that the currently occupied territories and Crimea are enough for Moscow. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”