Trump's envoy Witkoff: Putin has never been anything other than straight with me

US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has said that Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has always been straightforward with him during meetings on the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Source: Witkoff in an interview with Fox News, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Speaking about his one-on-one talks with Putin, Witkoff said he had faced criticism over his meetings with the Russian leader.

"He has never been anything other than straight with me. And I say that, and I get attacked. But that's an accurate statement. He has told me that this is what his red lines are. You know, I got attacked for going to meet him eight times," the envoy said.

However, he insisted the meetings were necessary in order to strike a deal and could not have been avoided.

Quote: "How would you make a deal with someone on the other side unless you knew where the other person was coming from? I needed to understand what his motivations were, his goals and so forth. And I actually think that a lot of those meetings now are becoming very relevant. We understand where they [the Russians] are. And I don't think the Ukrainians disagree with us in our assessment. So I think those meetings were important, and hopefully we are going to consummate this whole thing [the war – ed.]."

Background:

• Witkoff also suggested that "good news" on ending Russia's war against Ukraine could emerge in the coming weeks and did not rule out a summit between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin.
• Following trilateral meetings in Geneva on 17-18 February, Zelenskyy said he sees progress in the military area of the talks but not in the political one.
• On 20 February, Zelenskyy said another round of talks with Russia and the US on ending the war could take place before the end of the month.

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