US is approaching peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Parties will have to make concessions, - Witkoff
The United States has come ‘very close’ to reaching a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.
According to Censor.NET, citing DW, US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff said this on CNN.
"You will see concessions on both sides. And this is what the president does the best. He brings people together. He makes them understand that the way to peace is through concessions and consensus building. And I think you're going to see a very successful outcome here," Witkoff said.
The special envoy did not specify the details of potential agreements, but stressed that in any peace deal ‘each side is going to make concessions, whether it's territorial concessions or economic concessions’.
"We are very, very close to signing something," Witkoff assured.
He also stressed that the "Istanbul Protocol Agreement", a draft peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine that was discussed in 2022 after talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, could serve as a benchmark..
According to it, in particular, Russia demanded neutrality from Ukraine, limiting the number of troops, weapons, equipment and aircraft, and the occupied territories were to remain with Russia.
In addition, Witkoff said that Russia was not necessarily to blame for fuelling the war in Ukraine.
"The war should not have happened - it was provoked. This does not necessarily mean that it was provoked by the Russians," he said.
Witkoff suggested that the war was provoked by Ukraine's desire to join NATO.
"There were all sorts of talks about Ukraine joining NATO. ... This should not have happened," he said. - "In fact, this has become a threat to the Russians, and we have to deal with this fact," Witkoff added.
Earlier, Witkoff said that if an agreement is reached to resolve the war in Ukraine, American companies may return to Russia to do business there.
