US special envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff said Washington is “hopeful” that by the end of 2025, or “a bit sooner” Ukraine and Russia may get closer to a peace deal.
“We are hopeful that by the end of this year, and maybe quite a bit sooner, we actually can find the ingredients to get to that peace deal,” he said, speaking on Fox News “Special Report with Bret Baier” show on Tuesday.
Witkoff also said he will meet with Ukrainian representatives in New York “this week.”
“I’m meeting with the Ukrainians this week. So I will be meeting with them this week in New York, and that’s a big signal. We talk to the Russians every day. I think we may end up seeing a bilateral meeting,” Witkoff said.
Witkoff believes there might be a bilateral meeting between Russia and Ukraine, with US President Donald Trump also sitting in on the talks.
Witkoff said Russian President Vladimir Putin put “a peace proposal on the table,” although the American also acknowledged Ukraine’s position that it cannot give up land and agree to vague security guarantees.
When asked: “Should Ukraine be forced to give up land Russian troops have not yet captured?” Witkoff reiterated the president’s comments that Ukrainians should decide.
“Well, the president said the only ones who can make that decision are the Ukrainians. This is President Zelensky’s call. And I think they have indicated it’s a more complicated decision than just giving up land. They need to understand what security guarantees are, and they are entitled to understand these things. They have to make sure this can never happen again,” Witkoff replied.
He called the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine as talks between “two tough sides” and repeated that no one has done more to “narrow the issues” and progress than Trump.
At the same time, Witkoff said that it is for the US president to decide whether to impose stronger measures against Russia to bring it back to the negotiation table.
Previously, Reuters reported Russia and the United States quietly discussed possible energy deals while negotiating a truce in Ukraine.
Five people familiar with the talks told Reuters that discussions centered on ExxonMobil’s potential return to the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East and the sale of American equipment for Russian liquefied natural gas ventures, including the Arctic LNG 2 megaproject.
The talks took place during Witkoff’s early August visit to Moscow, where he met with Putin.