Steve Witkoff, an envoy of US President Donald Trump involved in peace talks on Russia's war against Ukraine, stated that significant progress has been made and indicated that "we're at the end." He said this during a speech at the Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos, writes UNN.
I think we've made a lot of progress. I think in the beginning of this process, there was a little bit of confusion. I was going to run into Moscow quite a bit, but I think it was important to go there because we're at the end now and I actually am optimistic
Trump's envoy reported that the previous evening he had met with Ukrainian negotiators, the head of the President's Office General Kyrylo Budanov, and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov. "By the way, they were amazing for the Ukrainian people here, you have a great negotiating team," Witkoff noted.
"We've spent a lot of time together, I don't know how much, but it could be 100 hours together since Geneva. It's literally such a comprehensive process," he continued.
And I think we've got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue and that means it's solvable
"So, if both sides want to resolve it, we will resolve it. That's my opinion," Trump's envoy emphasized.
Witkoff indicated that he "just feels inspired." "By the way, I want to mention President Zelenskyy, because he has always been on top of this issue, he is available when you need to call him for guidance, we contact him by phone, and, of course, as everyone knows, with President Trump, as he said yesterday, Mark (NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was present during the discussion - ed.), when we talked about direct negotiations, he asked: 'Can I negotiate directly?' So, the president is always available too, just as he is," Witkoff noted.
So we're off to Moscow tonight. We're not staying over, going right to Abu Dhabi. That's an important data point, because now Abu Dhabi will be the working groups, military to military, prosperity
"Jared (Kushner) and I constantly talk about the importance of prosperity," he pointed out.
"Last night at dinner, we spent the whole evening discussing the growth trends of the Ukrainian economy and financial system, capital markets, jobs," Witkoff continued.
According to him, "the president has talked about a tariff-free zone from Ukraine that I think would be game-changing." "You will see industry move significantly into this area. Imagine being able to outcompete because you're not paying tariffs," Witkoff noted. "This is sending goods to the United States. So, we talked about some important things that the Ukrainian people deserve, because they have been so courageous in this fight. And today they are in really difficult circumstances."
"And I fully sympathize with that on behalf of the president and our administration," he pointed out.
And that's part of why we're going to Moscow, to have that discussion about how we end this thing and how we make it better for your people
"And I want you to know that this is the most important endeavor that Jared and I have. We are tasked with doing everything possible to get this solved. (...) This is time to end this. I think we're going to get it done," Witkoff concluded.