Witkoff named the main topics in the negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement

The main topics of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will be related to the territorial issue, the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Kiev's exploitation of the Dnieper River and access to the Black Sea. This was stated by special envoy of the President of the United States Stephen Witkoff in an interview with Breitbart News, published on May 12.

"I hope so," he said, answering the question whether negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will take place in the near future.

According to Witkoff, if the United States moves away from the conflict, that is, it does not want to take part in the settlement and says that the country tried to do everything to prevent it, then this will be the worst result for everyone. In this case, the task of the United States is to bring both sides together in one room and demonstrate to them that an alternative to a peaceful settlement is unacceptable, as it will end badly.

As Witkoff noted, the issue of the nuclear power plant is considered extremely important in the framework of negotiations due to the amount of electricity produced at the plant.

"I think the main problems here are the regions, the nuclear power plant, and how Ukrainians can use the Dnieper River and reach the ocean," he said.

A spokesman for US President Donald Trump also noted that there would be no deal without the approval of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The United States also discussed the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine with national security advisers from Britain, France, Germany and Italy, he added.

Season two: Can Russia and Ukraine move closer to peace at a meeting in Turkey

All interested parties are planning to gather in the republic under various pretexts this week.

Earlier, on May 12, it was reported that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held telephone talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. Within their framework, they talked about potential Russian-Ukrainian contacts. It is specified that the meeting between the Russian Federation and Ukraine is scheduled to take place in Istanbul on May 15.

Putin initiated direct talks on May 11, suggesting that the Ukrainian side resume dialogue on May 15 in Istanbul three years later. US President Donald Trump called on Ukraine to immediately accept the Russian proposal, after which Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky announced on the Telegram channel that he would come to the talks.