US Vice President J.D. Vance defended President's Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, emphasizing that he is "doing an excellent job" with his work.
"Steve Witkoff is a great guy doing an incredible job. The people sniping at him are mad that he is succeeding where they failed for 40 years. Turns out a lot of diplomacy boils down to a simple skill: don’t be an idiot," Vance wrote on X.
On 22 March, in an interview with ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Witkoff claimed that the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are the key problem in resolving the war.
He also referred to them as "Russian-speaking" and areas where residents "expressed their desire to be under Russian control."
Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territories began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea. In the same year, Russian-backed forces took control of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in eastern Ukraine.
On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion, expanding its control to about 20% of Ukraine, including parts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk. However, Ukraine has since liberated some areas, such as Kherson and parts of Kharkiv Oblast.
- Austria dismantles Russian spy network that targeted Ukraine support across German-speaking nations
- “Is he Trump’s envoy or Putin’s?” Ukraine lawmaker calls for Witkoff’s dismissal after Russia remarks
- Ukrainian forces advance 1.5km into Russia’s Belgorod Oblast
