The chief negotiator for the United States in talks between Russia and Ukraine in their ongoing war has said any chance at a peace deal has stalled out as the fate of territory taken by Moscow—including Crimea—remains a significant sticking point for both sides.
Newsweek reached out to the State Department by submission form outside of normal business hours for comment on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Russian and Ukrainian officials have met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in recent weeks to discuss the contours of a peace deal and seek an end to the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week agreed to a limited ceasefire during a call with President Donald Trump, mainly excluding infrastructure targets, according to a Russian readout of the call.
In its readout, the White House described the call as the first step in a “movement to peace” it hopes will eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and a full and lasting end to the war, which Russia launched in February 2022.
What To Know
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff dived into some of the particulars of the Russia-Ukraine talks during an interview with Tucker Carlson, during which he touted the great progress made with Russia, which he stressed “no one thought was possible.”
However, he admitted that talks have now stalled around the issue of the territories Russia has taken: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Russia took control of Donetsk and Luhansk at the start of the 2022 invasion and subsequently took control of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. All of this is subsequent to invading Crimea in 2014 and holding it to this day.
Kyiv has refused to proceed without an agreement that Russia will relinquish those territories.
Witkoff defended Russia’s claim to those regions by citing contentious referendums that Russia has pushed in the contended regions. Ukraine and its Western allies have condemned those referendums, held in 2022, as illegitimate.
Witkoff claimed the regions were “Russian-speaking” and “the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated they want to be under Russian rule.” He referred to the issue as “the elephant in the room,” according to Radio Free Europe.
“When that gets settled, we’re having a very, very positive conversation,” Witkoff said, adding that Russia has “de facto” control of the territories. He asked: “Will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Can Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict.”
It’s clear from this that the only difference between Steve Witkoff’s and Vladmir Putin’s views on the war in Ukraine is that Putin actually knows the names of all the five Ukrainian regions he wants to keep. pic.twitter.com/3f6hGyzVvo
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 22, 2025
Then-President Joe Biden had labeled the referendums as a “sham” as they were held after Russia had already annexed the territories and occupied them as a pretense to invade all of Ukraine.
Zelensky, as recently as last week, has maintained that his country does not recognize the occupied territories as Russian, responding to the issue after it was raised during talks in Saudi Arabia between the warring nations.
The Trump administration has maintained that Ukraine will have to make concessions, including territory, if officials want to end the conflict sooner than later. However, following meetings between Trump and leaders from the United Kingdom and France, Trump said that the U.S. would help Ukraine “get as much back as possible.”
Trump later had a high-profile bust-up in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump said that Ukraine had “no cards” and needed to take a more realistic stance on the peace talks.
Witkoff told Carlson that Ukraine has a “constitutional issue…as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory.” Witkoff remains “very, very optimistic that we’re going to be able to bring the two sides together.”
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
What People Are Saying
Steve Witkoff wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Thank you [Tucker Carlson] for having me today. Serving under [Donald Trump] has been a true privilege. He is the most effective President ever and under his administration and leadership, we will deliver peace to the world by settling our most devastating geopolitical conflicts.”
Yaroslav Trofimov, the Wall Street Journal‘s chief foreign affairs correspondent, wrote on X: “It’s clear from this that the only difference between Steve Witkoff’s and Vladmir Putin’s views on the war in Ukraine is that Putin actually knows the names of all the five Ukrainian regions he wants to keep.”
Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on X: “Witkoff’s repeating of Kremlin lies about ‘russian-speakers’ wanting to ‘join Russia’ is truly chilling. This is nothing less than carte blanche for Putin’s genocidal imperialism. Hearing Americans talk like this should be an electric shock for Europe, not a wakeup call.”
Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the think-tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote on X: “Steve Witkoff is adopting the Iran regime’s language of ‘verification’ instead of President Trump’s language of ‘dismantlement.’ That’s a MASSIVE difference. This would be even worse than the Obama deal of 2015.”
What Happens Next?
The U.S. and Saudi partners will continue to seek a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, with the U.S. set to hold separate talks with each delegation in Saudi Arabia.