‘If [Talks] Don’t Occur Quickly, US Ought to Step Back’ – Witkoff

President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to Russia and Ukraine: hold direct peace talks soon, or risk the United States stepping back from the conflict mediation, according to White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.

“The president has issued an ultimatum to both sides that without those direct talks and if they don’t occur quickly, then he believes the United States ought to step back from this conflict,” Witkoff told Breitbart News in an on-camera interview recorded on Thursday, May 8.

A senior White House adviser added that a peace summit between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin could be coming soon – and he’s ready to help make it happen.

“I hope so,” Witkoff said. “I think it’s entirely possible.”

Witkoff, who has spoken with top officials on both sides, said the US role is to “put them in a room together” and encourage direct talks. “The alternatives to a peaceful resolution here are bad for everybody,” he said.

His comments come as reports circulate of a possible summit in Turkey as early as this week.

Trump and Witkoff, are traveling to the Middle East for meetings in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. But if reports of a peace summit in Istanbul are true, either one of them could easily change course and attend, the publication suggests.

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As previously reported by Kyiv Post, Trump teased the possibility of attending Ukraine-Russia peace talks, set for Thursday in Turkey, on Monday.

Trump said he “was thinking about actually flying over there” but added he “[doesn’t] know where [he’s] going to be on Thursday.”

Witkoff said the war was a “stupid war” that “didn’t need to happen,” blaming its outbreak on President Joe Biden. “It would not have happened if there wasn’t a false election and he [Trump] was president,” he said.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has pledged to end the war quickly. In addition to Witkoff, he has dispatched top officials including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to help broker peace.

Witkoff said key unresolved issues include control of five disputed regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions and Crimea - the reopening of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and Ukraine’s access to key waterways, such as the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.

“There are things here that I don’t think are going to be difficult to solve if we get the parties to the table,” Witkoff said.

Witkoff said he has held talks with top Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky and his chief of staff Andrii Yermak, as well as directly with Putin – a move he defends despite criticism.

 “There is no deal without President Putin’s sign off… We need to talk to everybody. Any stakeholders in this conflict, we have to have a conversation with them.”

He stressed that while the US didn’t start the war, it wants to help end it – but only through diplomacy.

“Our job is to put them in a room together and show them that the alternatives to a peaceful resolution here are bad for everybody. That’s our job,” Witkoff said.

The day after Putin hosted foreign guests in Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day parade, EU leaders – including those from the UK, Germany, France, and Poland – met Zelensky in Kyiv, urging Russia to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire by Monday or face further sanctions.

On Sunday, Putin proposed holding direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday, May 15, without addressing the demands for a ceasefire.

Zelensky initially said Kyiv would join the talks only if there is a ceasefire, but later, in multiple evening updates, said he would go regardless.

“And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses,” he said in an update on Sunday.

On Monday, May 12, Zelensky reiterated his readiness for direct talks with Putin, offering to travel to Turkey for negotiations, but said Moscow had not yet respond.

“I’ve just spoken with President Erdoğan of Türkiye. It was a meaningful conversation. I’m grateful to the President for the support. I reaffirmed to him my readiness for direct and substantive negotiations with Putin,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

Responding on Monday to growing pressure, the Kremlin said: “This language of ultimatums is unacceptable for Russia. It doesn’t work. You can’t talk to Russia like that.”