US President Donald Trump and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, have both noted some progress in finding a settlement to the Ukraine crisis through negotiations.
This occurs while Ukrainian forces risk encirclement by Russian forces in the Odesa and Kupiansk regions, including the Pokrovsk areas. The US president has long pledged to mediate an end to the Ukraine war and has repeatedly expressed his frustration over the ongoing deadlock.
During a White House dinner with the leaders of Central Asian countries late on Thursday, Trump again took credit for ending “eight wars in eight months” and expressed hope to add another one to the list. “We are looking at one more; that’s possible – Russia and Ukraine. We haven’t gotten that yet, but I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” he said.
On Wednesday, the US president also told the American business forum that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was interested in finding a peaceful solution to the Ukraine War that has stretched into its fourth year in 2025.
His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, recalled his multiple face-to-face rounds of talks with Putin this year and said he similarly sees progress. “There’s a lot of dialogue that technical teams have to have at the lower level before the leaders can get to a deal. But I sense that there’s some advancement today,” Witkoff said.
Moscow has constantly praised Donald Trump for his genuine efforts to seek an end to the crisis. Russia has also repeatedly called for a lasting solution rather than a temporary ceasefire, arguing that such a ceasefire would only allow Kyiv to regroup and rearm.
Last month, Moscow announced that its forces had encircled some 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in several key strongholds. Putin urged Kyiv to accept an honourable surrender by the blockaded troops.
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