Witkoff says Ukraine talks near final stage as he heads to Moscow

US President’s special envoy Steven Witkoff has said that substantial progress has been achieved in efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and that the sides are now approaching the final stage of a settlement.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Witkoff said that the negotiating process had advanced significantly after an initial period of uncertainty. He noted that he had travelled to Moscow frequently at the early stages of the talks, describing those visits as necessary to move the process forward.

“I think we have made significant progress. At the beginning of this process, there was some confusion, and I travelled to Moscow quite often, but that was important, because now we are at the final stage,” he said.

Witkoff added that discussions on the Ukrainian conflict have effectively been narrowed down to a single, overarching issue, which he said makes a resolution achievable.

“This issue of settling the Ukrainian crisis is, in a literal sense, an all-encompassing question, and I think we have reduced it to one issue, which means the situation is resolvable,” he said.

He stressed that the United States is committed to bringing the settlement process in Ukraine to a successful conclusion.

After completing the visit, he said he plans to continue on to Abu Dhabi, where working-level contacts on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine are scheduled to take place.

By Tamilla Hasanova