"US makes progress in talks with Russia on Ukrainian conflict settlement" — Witkoff

The United States is making progress in its talks with Russia on the Ukrainian conflict settlement, US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News TV channel.

Asked whether there was a deal on Ukrainian conflict settlement emerging with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wikoff replied: "I think you have used a very good word here, saying 'an emerging'."

"I do," he said in response to a question whether he felt confident about a possible deal between Russia and the United States.

"This is the third meeting I had with him that lasted close to five hours. We had two of his key advisers in the room at the time - Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and special envoy of the Russian President and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev. It was a compelling meeting," Witkoff stated.
"This peace deal is about the so-called five territories, but there is so much more to it. There are security protocols, there is NATO Article 5…, a lot of detail attached. It’s a complicated situation rooted in some real problematic things happening between the two countries." the high-ranking US official added.

Last Friday, Putin had a meeting with Witkoff at the Presidential Library in St. Petersburg, which lasted for up to five hours. It was held behind closed doors and ended at about 10:00 p.m. Moscow time (7:00 p.m. GMT). The key topic was the situation in Ukraine.