Steve Witkoff. Photo: Getty Images
Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, has stated that “the so-called four regions: Donbas, Crimea, you know the names, Luhansk and there’s two others” are the biggest obstacles to resolving the war started by Russia.
Source: Witkoff in an interview with American propagandist Tucker Carlson
Quote: “They’re Russian-speaking, there have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule. I think that’s the key issue in the conflict.”
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Details: Witkoff added that this is a primary issue and that a very positive conversation is taking place.
He said this had always been a problem, although supposedly no one wants to talk about it.
Quote: “That’s the elephant in the room. The elephant in the room is, there are constitutional issues within Ukraine as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory. The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. The question is, will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Will it end up? Can Zelenskyy survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict. Absolutely that.”
Background:
On 19 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted that territorial issues would be on the table in future peace talks to end the war. However, he stressed that “for us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian. We will not agree to it”.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb stated that Finland’s experience shows that Ukraine must under no circumstances agree to Russia’s terms if they mean the loss of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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