US President Donald Trump's special representative Steve Witkoff expressed his views on the main problems hindering the war and peace process in Ukraine in an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson. He emphasized that the territories occupied by Russia – Crimea, Donbass, Luhansk, and two other regions (possibly Kherson and Zaporizhzhia) are the biggest obstacle to achieving peace.
The "elephant in the room": Can Ukraine give up its territories?
According to Witkoff, the results of the referendums held in these territories (not recognized by the international community) showed that the majority of the population wants to join Russia. He compared this issue to the "elephant in the room," meaning it is something obvious to everyone but not openly discussed.
“No one wants to talk about giving up Ukrainian territories. Russia is de facto controlling these areas, but will the world recognize them as under Moscow's control? If Zelensky accepts this, can he survive politically? This is the central issue in the conflict,” Witkoff said.
Western and Russian positions
Witkoff stated that he does not agree with the views of Western leaders who believe that Russia does not want to end the war. He pointed out that there are "good trends" for achieving a peace agreement in the near future. He also claimed that Russia does not want to occupy all of Ukraine, but that the currently occupied territories and Crimea are sufficient for Moscow.
