Occupied territories key issue in Russia's war against Ukraine – Witkoff
He stated this in an interview with American commentator Tucker Carlson.
Witkoff reiterated Russian narratives regarding Crimea and "the so-called four regions: Donbas, Luhansk, and two others," referencing sham referendums held by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories as supposed justification for their annexation.
"They [Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions] are Russian-speaking, there have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule. I think that's the key issue in the conflict," Witkoff said.
He stressed that this has always been the issue, though "it's sort of no one wants to talk about it."
"That's the elephant in the room. The elephant in the room is, there are constitutional issues within Ukraine as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory. The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. Yes. The question is, will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Will it end up? Can Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict," he said.
On Ukraine's NATO aspirations, Witkoff stated that Ukraine cannot currently join the military alliance due to the positions of both Russia and the United States. However, the question of whether Ukraine could receive security guarantees under NATO's Article 5 on collective defense remains open.
"On NATO, I think that Zelensky and he's got a right-hand guy, [chief of staff Andriy] Yermak, I think that they've largely conceded that they are not going to be a member of NATO," he said.
Witkoff noted that discussions have taken place about Ukraine potentially receiving some form of security guarantees without full NATO membership.
"There's been all kinds of talk about whether they could still have what is called Article 5 protection -- every NATO country has this Article 5 protection -- whether Ukraine could have that in some respect from the United States or European nations without being a member of NATO. And I think that's open for discussion," he added.
He also stated that "if there's going to be a peace deal [between Ukraine and Russia], Ukraine cannot be a member of NATO."
When asked by Carlson whether there will be elections in Ukraine, Witkoff responded affirmatively: "Yes, there will be. There will be elections. They've agreed to it. There will be elections in Ukraine."
In his opinion, President Volodymyr Zelensky is in a difficult position.
"I think Zelensky is trying his best. I think he's in a very, very difficult position, but he's up against a nuclear nation. And he's also up against a nation that has four times the population that he has. […] Now was the best time for him to get a deal done. President Trump can deliver him the best possible deal he's ever going to get," Witkoff said.
Zelensky reaffirmed earlier that Ukraine would not recognize occupied territories as part of Russia. However, he confirmed that the issue was raised during negotiations in Jeddah.
Photo: Bloomberg
