Special Representative of the US President Steve Witkoff spoke about recognizing the occupied Ukrainian territories as Russian.
He said this in an interview with American propagandist Tucker Carlson.
" I think the biggest problem in this conflict is the so-called four regions: Donbas, Crimea, Luhansk and two others. They are Russian-speaking. There were referendums there where the vast majority of people indicated that they wanted to be under Russian rule. I think that is the key issue in the conflict. So that is the first thing that needs to be resolved. And we are having very positive conversations ," said Witkoff.
To Carlson's remark that in fact, from the Russian perspective, some of these territories are now part of Russia, he replied:
" Right. That's right. But that's always been an issue, right? And, you know, nobody wanted to talk about it. It's the elephant in the room. Another elephant in the room is the constitutional issues in Ukraine about what they can give up when it comes to losing territories. The Russians actually control these territories.
The question is, will the world recognize that these territories are Russian? Will Zelensky be able to survive politically if he recognizes it? This is the main issue of the conflict. Absolutely so ."
Witkoff is confident that Russia does not want to absorb all of Ukraine.
" They got what they wanted. They got those five regions back. They have Crimea and they got what they need. I think we have to get a fair deal for Ukraine. But we can't let this country drag us into World War III. And that's not my policy. That's President Trump's policy ," he said.
Witkoff considers the position of European countries, in particular Great Britain, whose prime minister announced his readiness to send troops to Ukraine, to be a combination of posturing and demonstration.
" It's a combination of posturing and demonstration, and a certain simplisticness. I think there's this idea that everyone has to be like Winston Churchill. That the Russians are going to march across Europe. I think that's absurd, by the way. We have this thing like NATO, which didn't exist during World War II ," Witkoff said.
" First of all, why would they want to absorb Ukraine? For what? They don't need to absorb Ukraine. It would be like occupying Gaza. Why do the Israelis really want to occupy Gaza for the rest of their days? They don't want to. They want stability there. They don't want to deal with that. But the Russians also got what they wanted. They got those five regions back. They have Crimea and they got what they need. Why do they need anything else? " Trump's special representative added.
Previously, Stephen Witkoff called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin a great leader .