Trump’s particular envoy Witkoff praises ‘super smart’ Putin forward of Ukraine ceasefire talks | EUROtoday

Donald Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff has praised Russian president Vladimir Putin as “super smart”, as talks over a ceasefire in Ukraine get underway in Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of Sunday’s discussions in Riyadh, Mr Witkoff – a former actual property mogul tasked by Mr Trump with main negotiations on Ukraine’s future – met with Mr Putin in Moscow for a second time on Thursday for talks on ending the battle.

Speaking to far-right commentator Tucker Carlson in an interview broadcast on Friday, Mr Witkoff mentioned he “liked” the Russian president, who he described as “gracious”. He added: “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy. He’s super smart.”

open picture in gallery

In remarks that may do little to assuage European fears that the White House is more and more parroting Kremlin propaganda, Mr Witkoff claimed the “elephant in the room” in peace talks is whether or not Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky can acknowledge Moscow’s claimed proper to Crimea and 4 “Russian-speaking” areas in japanese Ukraine.

Despite being unable to call two of the 4 mainland areas – which Mr Putin partly occupies, and tried to illegally annex following sham referenda in September 2022 – and utilizing the Russian title for a 3rd, Mr Witkoff mentioned he believed the “central issue” within the battle was whether or not Ukraine would relent management of them to Moscow.

Claiming an “overwhelming majority” of residents within the contested areas had indicated a choice for Russian rule, regardless of studies of ballots being forged at gunpoint, Mr Witkoff went on to assert that “the Russians are de facto in control of these territories”.

Many 1000’s of Ukrainians have given their lives to defend territory in Donetsk and Luhansk since 2014, and in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years in the past. While Moscow presently controls most of Donetsk and Luhansk, they maintain minimal territory in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, with fierce preventing nonetheless ongoing in all 4 areas.

Follow our Ukraine weblog for the newest updates

Mr Witkoff’s feedback got here shortly earlier than Ukrainian delegates travelled to Riyadh for talks with US officers on Sunday, with Russian representatives attributable to comply with swimsuit in separate talks on Monday – within the first such parallel negotiations because the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

open picture in gallery

The Kremlin mentioned its foremost focus in Riyadh can be a resumption of the UN-brokered delivery deal within the Black Sea, which Russia unilaterally pulled out of months after it was struck in July 2022.

Insisting that he believes Mr Putin “wants peace”, Mr Witkoff advised Fox News on Sunday: “I think that you’re going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries.

“And from that, you’ll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire.”

In distinction, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned on Sunday that progress on a deal was unlikely because it was “only the beginning” of what can be “difficult” negotiations.

Playing down considerations from Washington’s Nato allies that Mr Putin will merely use any ceasefire to rearm and launch additional assaults on Ukraine and its neighbours, Mr Witkoff mentioned: “I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe. This is a much different situation than it was in World War Two.”

open picture in gallery

In one other blow to European allies, he criticised British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for a “coalition of the willing” to offer navy safety ensures for Kyiv beneath any peace deal as “a posture and a pose”.

Mr Witkoff criticised the plan – which is being quickly hashed out by European leaders in response to the Trump administration’s dramatic withdrawal of assist – as being based mostly on a “simplistic” notion of pondering “we have all got to be like Winston Churchill”.

As the US-led talks bought underway in Riyadh on Sunday, Washington officers advised Bloomberg that Mr Trump was pushing for a peace deal in Ukraine by 20 April, a symbolic date on which each the Western and Orthodox church buildings will have a good time Easter this 12 months.

Following a telephone name final week, Mr Putin and Mr Trump agreed “that the movement to peace will begin” with a 30-day pause in assaults on Russian and Ukrainian power amenities, the White House mentioned.

But that narrowly outlined ceasefire was shortly forged into doubt, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of bombing its personal oil depot in Kursk to undermine the settlement, whereas additionally hanging hospitals and houses in Ukraine and knocking out energy to some railways.

Just hours earlier than the talks in Saudi Arabia started, Ukrainian officers mentioned Russia had killed seven individuals – together with a five-year-old baby – in in a single day drone strikes on Kyiv, and 4 individuals in Donetsk.