Trump envoy Steve Witkoff describes 3.5-hour assembly with Putin in Moscow
Washington — Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s particular envoy to the Center East, described on Sunday a three-and-a-half hour assembly he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, a part of what he mentioned was a “trust-building” task given to him by President Trump.
Witkoff traveled to Moscow to carry residence Marc Fogel, an American who had been serving a 14-year sentence in Russia for touring with medical marijuana. Russia freed Fogel on Feb. 11. Witkoff instructed a convention final week that he met with Putin earlier than leaving the nation with Fogel.
Showing on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Witkoff mentioned there have been two translators on the assembly with Putin, and he was the one U.S. official current. He mentioned he was “intent on carrying a message from the president to President Putin” and that he was instructed that the Russian chief “had one thing for me to transmit again to the president.”
“The assembly ended, I checked out my watch and it was shut to 3 and a half hours that we had been in there. And hopefully that means that loads of good issues obtained completed,” Witkoff mentioned.
An actual property investor and good friend of Mr. Trump’s who has taken an outsized function in his overseas coverage, Witkoff famous that Mr. Trump believes that “trust-building begins with good, correct communication.”
“We simply had an excellent dialogue, me and President Putin, and now will probably be as much as President Putin and President Trump to work one thing out, and I believe they are going to achieve success,” Witkoff mentioned.
Along with his journey to Moscow, Witkoff additionally joined Russian and U.S. representatives at a assembly in Saudi Arabia final week, the place the officers agreed to start working towards an finish to the struggle in Ukraine and associated financial alternatives, although no Ukrainian officers had been current.
Witkoff mentioned the officers didn’t focus on lifting American sanctions on Russia, however he famous that if a peace deal is reached, “there could be an expectation” that American firms might return to the nation to do enterprise.
In the meantime, Mr. Trump has argued that Ukraine ought to give one thing to the U.S. in return for the American assist the nation has acquired, pointing to U.S. curiosity in Ukraine’s uncommon minerals. And the president has escalated a public feud with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in current days, calling Zelenskyy a “dictator.” Preparations are underway for a gathering between Mr. Trump and Putin, Russia’s deputy overseas minister instructed state media on Saturday.
Witkoff mentioned the president’s agenda is “to finish this carnage,” including that the struggle in Ukraine “did not have to occur, and it would not have to proceed.”
“So we’re on it at his path,” Witkoff mentioned. “And I believe there’s, you are going to see some actual constructive developments within the near-term future.”
