Witkoff claims Ukraine is less concerned about "Russian-speaking" regions

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Special Envoy for the Middle East, has stated that during talks with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, the latter was "fixated" on Ukrainian territories, and Witkoff suggested that Ukraine might "care less" about some regions, particularly those with predominantly Russian-speaking populations.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Witkoff said that during his meeting with the Kremlin leader, Putin was "fixated" on Ukrainian territories. As the US envoy stated, Russia "might get some of the regions, but not all".

He also suggested that Ukraine may "care less" about certain territories if they are predominantly Russian-speaking.

"When you begin to look at those five regions, Russia, that you care about them, and by the way, you care about them too, Ukraine, if some of them are more Russian speaking, do you care less about that?" he said.

Witkoff first mentioned Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories in an interview with Tucker Carlson in March, although he initially misstated the number and failed to name most of them.

Following such remarks, Reuters reported that several of the US special envoy’s actions and statements regarding the settlement of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine have drawn criticism from the White House and members of the Republican Party.

As previously reported, Witkoff recently stated on Fox News that a peace deal would include the resolution of the issue of the "so-called five territories" – without specifying which ones.