US envoy calls Putin meeting “compelling,” says peace hinges on “five territories”

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff described his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 11 April as “compelling” and indicated that Putin is open to “permanent peace.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy emphasized that Russian deliberate attacks on civilians, such as in Sumy and Kryvyi Rih, demonstrate Moscow’s unwillingness to end the war. 

The talks followed reports that President Trump had expressed disappointment over the lack of significant progress in negotiations and was displeased with Putin’s comments regarding Ukraine, including no compromise on territorial issues, peacekeepers, or Ukraine’s neutrality status.

During a Fox News broadcast, Witkoff revealed that his third meeting with Putin lasted approximately five hours and included key Russian advisors Ushakov and Dimitriev.

On 2 April, Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, visited Washington for talks with US officials as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

Dmitriev, who leads Russia’s Direct Investment Fund and is under US sanctions, is the highest-ranking Russian official to visit the US since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. His entry was made possible by a special short-term license issued by the State Department at the request of Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, who extended the invitation.

According to Witkoff, the discussions on 11 April culminated with Putin expressing his requirements for achieving lasting peace.

“This peace deal is about these so called five territories but there is so much more to it. There is security protocols, there is “no NATO” [for Ukraine], NATO article 5. There is a lot of detail attached to it. I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very important for the world at large,” Witkoff said.

Witkoff also suggested that the United States and Russia could rebuild relations through commercial partnerships.

“There is a possibility to reshape US-Russian relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities. Partnerships create stability,” he noted.

After the meeting, Witkoff reportedly advocated for the US to support Russia’s claim to four eastern Ukrainian oblasts—Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson—which Russia attempted to annex in 2022 but does not fully control. 

He claimed that most residents in these areas are Russian-speaking and desire to join Russia, but acknowledged that Ukraine’s constitution presents a significant barrier to recognizing these territories as Russian.

This suggestion, echoing Russian propaganda narratives, was met with strong opposition from within the US administration, particularly from Trump’s Ukraine envoy, General Keith Kellogg, who argued that Ukraine would never agree to unilaterally cede these territories.

Regarding the Witkoff’s comment about recognition of the 2022 “referendums” conducted by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories, the European Commission condemned the referendums as fraudulent, stating they were carried out “at gunpoint.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously maintained that Ukraine will not recognize Russian claims to occupied territories.