In an interview with Fox News, Witkoff calls the meeting in St. Petersburg "compelling" (approximately: "convincing"). He says it lasted nearly five hours and that two of Putin's heaviest advisors, Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, were present.
It was a convincing meeting. And finally – I don't mean "finally" as in we had been waiting for it, but that it took us a while to get that far – we got to what Putin demands for us to get a permanent peace (in Ukraine), Witkoff explains.
The 68-year-old businessman was appointed last winter as the USA's president Donald Trump's peace envoy to the Middle East. Despite being a businessman without previous diplomatic experience, he has also taken over the soundings for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. But now he means that a full-scale peace can be within reach – although without going into details.
I believe we can be on the threshold of something that would be very, very important for the world at large.
This was Witkoff's third meeting with Putin, and the new administration in the USA has received harsh criticism during the process for giving in to Putin's line in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Not even this time does Witkoff push for any counter-demands from the USA's side. Instead, he signals business opportunities.
I believe there is an opportunity to reshape the Russia–USA relationship through very convincing commercial opportunities, which I believe can provide real stability in the region as well.
