New York: US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to a "permanent peace" deal with Ukraine. This comes after recent high-level talks in Saint Petersburg aimed at ending the more than three-year conflict.
"Putin's request is to get to have a permanent peace here. So beyond the ceasefire, we got an answer to that," Witkoff said during an interview with Fox News this week. "I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large."
Witkoff said that after five hours of talks with Vladimir Putin, he saw a deal “emerging”. He also spoke of “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.”
Last month, Putin rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire. Ukrainian officials reportedly sent Washington a list of Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, alleging violations of last month’s truce agreement. While Putin has said he's open to a full ceasefire, he reportedly insisted on major conditions, which includes no NATO membership for Ukraine; limits on the Ukrainian military, and Russian sovereignty over four contested Ukrainian regions. Kyiv has firmly rejected these demands.
