Witkoff may join Ukraine and allies' meeting before Trump's talks with Putin - FT

On the eve of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Alaska, it became known that Trump's representative Steve Witkoff, who discussed a territorial exchange plan with the Kremlin, may participate in negotiations in Great Britain, where positions are planned to be coordinated before the Trump-Putin summit on peace in Ukraine. This is reported by  Financial Times, writes UNN.

Details

As the publication writes, Trump announced that he would meet with Putin in Alaska next week. The announcement of the meeting came just hours after the US president made it clear that ending Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor's territory, which has been going on for the fourth year, would involve territorial concessions, the publication notes.

"Senior Ukrainian officials who participated in phone calls with the US and European allies said Putin voiced a plan for Ukraine to cede large territories during a three-hour meeting with Witkoff. Another Western official said there had been extensive discussions about territorial exchange. According to Ukrainian officials, Putin's proposals differed little from the maximalist claims to Ukraine he made in 2022," the publication notes.

The interlocutors of the publication also note that Putin proposed freezing the front line in southeastern Ukraine in exchange for Kyiv's retreat regarding its eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including territory currently not controlled by Russian forces.

The publication indicates that the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, where Russian troops are stuck on the southeastern bank of the Dnipro, will be subject to discussion, as will small areas of the Kharkiv and Sumy regions controlled by the Russian military. Moscow may withdraw troops from these regions, the publication writes.

"Officials said Kyiv would reject a deal that amounts to legitimizing Russian occupation, but could agree to Moscow's de facto control over these territories," the publication adds.

Putin also demanded that Ukraine's NATO membership be removed from consideration, although EU membership would still be allowed, the Armed Forces of Ukraine would be limited in number, and Russia would demand that Western allies not supply Kyiv with long-range weapons, the publication writes.

"This is similar to Munich 1938, when the great powers decide the fate of the victim of aggression," said Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation.

He called Putin's proposal for ending the war "extremely disturbing" and said that Zelenskyy's agreement "could cause a social explosion in Ukraine."

Trump's comments about the possibility of a land swap came ahead of a planned meeting in Great Britain involving British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and US Vice President JD Vance to discuss the situation in Ukraine. Steve Witkoff may be present at the meeting at Lammy's official residence, and from the Ukrainian side - the head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak

Recall

High-ranking officials from the US, Ukraine, and Europe are preparing for a meeting in Great Britain to coordinate positions before the Trump-Putin summit on peace in Ukraine.

As reported, Putin presented the Trump administration with a proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, which provides for significant territorial concessions from Ukraine. This refers to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

US President Donald Trump announced that he would meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after the announcement of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, stated Ukraine's readiness for real solutions for peace, but emphasized that Ukrainians would not give their land to the occupier. He stressed that the answer to the territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine.