Witkoff is confident that Russia wants to resolve the conflict in Ukraine peacefully.
Russia wants to resolve the conflict in Ukraine peacefully. 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 think the Russians really want a peaceful settlement, and both sides are trying to figure out what that means for them. Our task is to gather them in one room and show them that the alternatives to a peaceful settlement here are bad for everyone. This is our job," he said.
According to Witkoff, if the United States stops participating in resolving the conflict, it will be a bad result.
Witkoff also named the main topics of possible negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. In his opinion, they will be connected with the territories, the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Kiev's use of the Dnieper River and access to the Black Sea.
"There is no deal without the signature of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He's the leader of Russia, so the idea of not talking to him is something that people are against. I don't understand this logic. We need to talk to everyone," Witkoff said.
On the same day, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko announced the desire of France, Great Britain and Germany to continue the conflict in Ukraine. According to him, the main goal of these states is to achieve the international isolation of Russia.
On May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed resuming direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15. On the same day, his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky, responded with an ultimatum: he demanded a cease-fire from May 12. In turn, US President Donald Trump called on Kiev to accept Moscow's proposal immediately, after which the Ukrainian leader announced that he would come to Turkey on May 15 for talks.
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