US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said that his latest meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin focused on a potential peace agreement centred around five disputed regions in Ukraine.

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Speaking to Fox News on Monday (April 14), Witkoff described the 11 April meeting in St. Petersburg as “compelling” and said Putin had shown a willingness to work towards “a permanent peace,” although, he admitted, “it took a while for us to get to” that point.

“This peace deal is about these so-called five territories,” he explained. “But there’s so much more to it. I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very important for the world at large,” he added.

Also read: Putin-Trump call ‘possible’, says Kremlin after Russian leader’s talks with US envoy Witkoff on Ukraine

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Witkoff did not specify the territories in question, but he appeared to be referencing Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, as well as Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Moscow claimed the annexation of these four regions in 2022, although parts of them remain under Ukrainian control.

Business ties and diplomatic warnings

Witkoff also hinted at a broader aim behind the talks, suggesting that economic cooperation could help stabilise relations between Russia and the US. “I see a possibility of reshaping the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities,” he said. “That gives real stability to the region too,” he added.

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Also read: ‘Putin started it, Biden blew it, Zelensky's incompetent’: Trump blames 'three people' for millions of deaths in Ukraine war

However, not everyone in Washington supports the direction of this diplomacy. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg have both urged President Donald Trump not to agree to territorial concessions.

Despite these warnings, Trump is backing Witkoff’s approach. According to Reuters, the envoy told the president that recognising Russian control of the four partially occupied regions would be the fastest route to a ceasefire.

Also read: ‘I just got here’: Trump insists Russia-Ukraine War ‘not his war,’ slams Zelensky, Biden for ‘absolutely horrible job’

Witkoff, who has made several trips to Russia this year and now leads Trump’s plan to broker a ceasefire, has come under fire for closely aligning with the Kremlin’s language, particularly around the issue of territory and the suggestion that peace could be achieved by handing over land.

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