US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff described his recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as "convincing" and said they discussed the ceasefire in Ukraine and the creation of new business opportunities, Ukrinform reported, citing his interview with "Fox News".
During the nearly five-hour meeting, Putin stated that he was ready to ensure "lasting peace" with Ukraine.
"Putin's desire is to have lasting peace here. So, beyond the ceasefire, we have an answer to that question," Witkoff said, acknowledging that "it took us a while to get there."
The key to the overall agreement, according to Witkoff, is in these "five territories."
"This peace agreement deals with these so-called five territories, but there's a lot more to it. There's a security protocol, there's no NATO, no NATO Article 5. There's a lot of detail involved in this complicated situation. There are some really problematic things going on between the two countries. But I think we may be on the verge of something that will be very, very important for the world as a whole," he stressed.
Witkoff did not specify which territories he was talking about.
Trump's special envoy added that he sees "an opportunity to change Russian-American relations through some very compelling trade opportunities" that could bring real stability to the region.
Trump has ambitions to end the war in Ukraine, which has killed tens of thousands of people in three years. It was with this intention that he ended the diplomatic isolation imposed by the West on his Russian counterpart, AFP notes.
To this end, the US government has organized separate negotiations with Russian and Ukrainian representatives. So far, they have not led to a cessation of hostilities. The negotiations are dragging on, without significant concessions from Moscow. Kiev and some Western capitals accuse Russia of deliberately stalling the negotiations.