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Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff expressed strong confidence in the possibility of negotiating both a comprehensive ceasefire and eventual peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
As a real estate investor chosen by Trump to serve as Special Envoy to the Middle East and unofficial envoy to Moscow, Witkoff highlighted the significant diplomatic advances made in recent weeks regarding the ongoing Eastern European conflict.
“I believe that we have made more progress in this Russian-Ukraine conflict in the last eight weeks than anyone thought we would ever make,” Witkoff said.
Speaking before upcoming negotiations with both sides in Riyadh, he noted that beyond the current partial ceasefire on energy infrastructure attacks, he anticipates an agreement on maritime strike restrictions in the Black Sea within days.
Steve Witkoff has no background in diplomacy but has turned out to be the most effective American diplomat in a generation. Here’s how he’s trying to resolve the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
(0:00) What Witkoff Has Learned as Trump’s Global Negotiator
(4:10) Negotiating With… pic.twitter.com/7AUh4gvwke— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 21, 2025
“That’s big stuff, really big stuff. What’s the ultimate goal? The ultimate goal is a 30-day ceasefire, during which time we discuss a permanent ceasefire. We’re not far away from that,” Witkoff predicted.
“There’s all kinds of good, positive talk coming out of Russia about their willingness to consider all of these different things. And Zelensky had a wonderful conversation with the president… and I think that indicates that they’ve got some degree of flexibility in the way that they’ve been thinking about finishing up this conflict,” he continued.
Despite his optimism, Witkoff recognized substantial challenges remain, particularly regarding battlefield situations. During recent discussions with Putin, the Russian leader raised concerns about scenarios where Russian forces hold advantageous positions but face Ukrainian resistance.
This issue is especially relevant in Kursk, where Ukrainian forces conducted a surprise counter-invasion but now reportedly face encirclement. The situation represents just one of approximately 90 engagement points along the extensive border requiring resolution before achieving a ceasefire.
"I'm not sure how anyone would expect an end to a conflict when you're not communicating," says Steve Witkoff on talks to end the war in Ukraine.@POTUS's "philosophy of peace through strength brings people to the table to clear up misconceptions and to get peace deals done." pic.twitter.com/gtuOjDo4eE
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 23, 2025
While Ukraine likely understands NATO membership is no longer viable, territorial concessions remain contentious. Two major obstacles include Ukraine’s constitutional prohibition on surrendering territory and the political ramifications for Zelensky if land loss occurs during his leadership.
“There’s a sensibility in Russia that Ukraine is a false country, that they just patched together in this sort of mosaic, these regions, and that’s the root cause, in my opinion, of this war, that Russia regards those five regions as rightfully theirs since World War II. That’s something that nobody wants to talk about,” Witkoff said.
The envoy criticized European leaders for fostering unrealistic expectations about Ukraine’s chances against Russia. He dismissed suggestions from Paris and London about deploying peacekeepers as mere posturing.
“I think there’s this sort of notion of, we’ve all got to be like Winston Churchill. The Russians are going to march across Europe. I think that’s preposterous, by the way. We have something called NATO that we did not have in World War II,” he said.
