A special envoy for former President Donald Trump has pledged that no peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia will be signed until Ukrainians are confident Moscow will not take up arms against them again. The commitment comes as negotiations continue toward a potential resolution of the ongoing conflict.
“There will be no deal if Ukraine and its people do not believe they can live in peace if a diplomatic solution is found. This must be the end result – a reality of peace. I believe that this will require tough security protocols from the United States, backed by tough security protocols from Europe. And we set a goal at our first meeting in Geneva – we worked long hours – to establish this,” said Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, according to New York Post.
Witkoff and Jared Kushner recently met again with the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva.
“Together with the government’s economic team, we will carefully work through a package of measures to ensure prosperity: mechanisms for economic support and the reconstruction of Ukraine, tools for attracting investment and a framework for long-term cooperation,” the envoy stated.
Witkoff expressed his firm belief in the possibility of a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin – a breakthrough that would be the most significant step toward resolving the conflict since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. He explained:
“We believe that we first tried to resolve other issues, and then leave the issue of territory to the discretion of the leaders. There is a lot of work to be done on the territorial issue – we need to consider various concepts and many options.”
Should a summit take place, Witkoff said, another meeting could be held with the participation of President Trump, although the envoy added that “We see too early to talk” about such a possibility.
“We will do everything possible to help you find the right solution, the right peaceful solution, so that one day everyone in your country can live in peace,” the envoy said.
Peace negotiations – latest news
The discussions between the U.S. And Ukraine are taking place ahead of a fourth trilateral meeting between Washington, Kyiv, and Moscow, scheduled for next week, during which the three sides will assess the possibility of making progress in organizing a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Trump wants the war in Ukraine to end and has already done a lot to achieve this. The politician added that the American leader has invested a lot of political capital in the effort, but despite some progress on individual issues, Trump is generally disappointed.
