The meeting was also attended by Putin’s aide Yuriy Ushakov and the Russian president’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev.
According to the Kremlin press service, the topic of the meeting was “aspects of the Ukrainian settlement.”
Earlier today, Reuters published material that Whitkoff has already conveyed to Donald Trump the Kremlin’s position on a possible ceasefire. According to the agency’s sources, after a meeting in Washington with Kirill Dmitriev, Whitkoff told Trump that the fastest way to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine would be for Russia to recognize the DNR, LNR, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions as its own.
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It’s incredible how much diplomacy happens behind closed doors. Let’s hope these talks actually lead to a real ceasefire and not just more headlines.
Ukraine’s sovereignty must not be up for negotiation! Any deal that recognizes occupied regions as Russian is unacceptable.
Trump’s involvement could shake things up, but he needs to be careful not to legitimize Russia’s land grabs.
Interesting to see Trump’s team involved in backchannel talks. I wonder if this will change the US position on Ukraine.
Putin is playing hardball as always. Will the West stand firm, or will there be compromises?
The demand to recognize four regions as Russian territory is a huge ask. I doubt Ukraine or the EU will ever agree.
I’m concerned that Ukraine’s fate is being discussed without Ukrainian representatives at the table. That’s not how peace should be negotiated.
Four and a half hours is a long meeting! Shows how complicated and sensitive the Ukraine issue really is.
This could be a turning point in the conflict, or just another round of fruitless negotiations. Only time will tell.
Looks like the art of negotiation has reached new heights where the fastest way to peace is basically redrawing the map with a permanent marker. Who knew diplomacy involved so much territorial rearranging? 🤔