Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, has described his recent talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as "compelling" and mentioned "five territories" as the focal point of the negotiations.

Source: Bloomberg, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Witkoff said that he discussed with Putin the steps that could end the war in Ukraine and potentially open new business opportunities.

He claims Putin asked him to ensure "a permanent peace", which "took a while for us to get to," Witkoff added.

The key to a comprehensive agreement, Witkoff said, revolves around "five territories".

"This peace deal is about these so-called five territories, but there’s so much more to it," he stated.

Witkoff added that "we might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large".

He also stated that he sees "a possibility to reshape the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region too".

Background:

• On 11 April, Witkoff met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, where they discussed a potential pathway to resolving the war in Ukraine. Russian state media outlets say the meeting lasted 4.5 hours.
• This is not the first time Witkoff has spoken about Russian-occupied territories in the context of "resolving" the Russo-Ukrainian war.
• In his widely discussed interview with Tucker Carlson, Witkoff said that "the biggest issue in this conflict is the so-called four regions," referring to "Donbas, Crimea, Luhansk, and two others", in his words.
• Following such statements, Reuters reported that certain actions and comments by the US President’s envoy regarding the settlement of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine drew criticism from both the White House and Republican Party members.

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