US envoy: No end to war in Ukraine without talking to Putin

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has stated that resolving the conflict in Ukraine is impossible without direct dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Some hardline neoconservatives have criticised Steve Witkoff for meeting with figures like Vladimir Putin without being accompanied by aides, arguing that such solo meetings are inappropriate, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media. 

Critics, particularly from globalist circles, have expressed concern over his one-on-one approach. 

However, in an interview, Witkoff defended his actions, stating that the alternative—no communication at all—was the failed approach of President Biden’s administration. Under President Trump, Witkoff said, he was instructed to engage directly in an effort to seek better outcomes.  

"I think the president wants things done a different way. He wants a more proactive approach. He wants people getting out in the field. My meetings with Vladimir Putin—outsiders were not invited. Should I have said to Vladimir Putin: ‘I don’t want to open up a dialogue with you, I don’t want to have a relationship with you’? Biden hadn’t talked to him for three and a half years," Witkoff said. 

"At the direction of the president, I had the opportunity to make contact with President Putin. He is the central protagonist in that conflict. If we’re not talking to him, how do we think we’re ever going to effect a resolution? It’s not even possible. So the notion that we’re not supposed to talk to him is preposterous, or that I should talk to him and condition those talks on being able to bring an interpreter there or other people there. I did not need anybody there. It actually worked better being there alone and then downloading our leadership, our foreign policy team, afterwards,” he noted.

On April 25, the Kremlin hosted a three-hour meeting between President Putin and Witkoff. According to participants, the talks were constructive and contributed to narrowing the gap between Russia and the US on the issue of Ukraine, as well as other international matters. The possibility of direct dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv was also discussed.

By Naila Huseynova