Occupied territories are the key issue in Russia's war against Ukraine – Vitkoff

He expressed this opinion in an interview with the famous American commentator Tucker Carlson.

Witkoff repeated Russian claims regarding Crimea and the “so-called four regions: Donbas, Luhansk and two others,” pointing to sham referendums held by Russia on seized Ukrainian lands as the supposed justification for their annexation.

“They [the Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions] are Russian-speaking, and there have been referendums in which the vast majority of the population has declared their desire to be under Russian rule. I think that is the key issue in the conflict,” Witkoff said.

He also emphasized that this problem has always existed, although “nobody wanted to discuss it.”

“That's the elephant in the room. The elephant in the room is that there are constitutional questions in Ukraine about what concessions they can make in terms of giving up the territories. Russia effectively controls these lands. Yes. The question is, will the international community recognize that these are Russian territories? Will it eventually? Will Zelensky survive if he recognizes this? That's the central question in the conflict,” he added.

Read also: Witkoff: The ultimate goal of current talks is a 30-day ceasefire to achieve a permanent truce

Regarding Ukraine's aspirations to join NATO, Witkoff noted that Ukraine cannot currently become part of the military alliance due to the positions of both Russia and the United States. However, the question of whether Ukraine can receive security guarantees under NATO's Article 5 on selective defense remains open.

“As far as NATO is concerned, I think Zelensky and his right-hand man, [chief of staff Andriy] Yermak, have largely realized that they are not going to become members of NATO,” he said.

Wittkoff stressed that discussions are underway about how Ukraine could receive certain security guarantees without full NATO membership.

“There's been all sorts of talk about whether they can still have what's called Article 5 protection – every NATO country has this Article 5 protection – whether Ukraine can get that from the United States or from EU countries without being a NATO member. And I think that's a topic for discussion,” he added.

He also stated that “if a peace agreement is reached [between Ukraine and Russia], Ukraine will not be able to become a member of NATO.”

When asked by Carlson whether elections would take place in Ukraine, Vitkoff confirmed: “Yes, there will be elections. They agree to it. Elections will take place in Ukraine.”

In his opinion, President Volodymyr Zelensky is in a very difficult situation.

“I think Zelensky is trying his best. I think he's in a very difficult position, but he's up against a nuclear power. And he's also up against a country that has four times the population of him. […] Now is the perfect time for him to make a deal. President Trump can give him the best deal he's ever going to get,” Witkoff concluded.

Earlier, Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine does not recognize the occupied territories as part of Russia. However, he noted that this issue was raised during the negotiations in Jeddah.

Photo: Bloomberg