Crimea and "four regions" are key issues in Russia's war against Ukraine – Trump's envoy Witkoff

Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East, has stated that the largest obstacles to resolving the war started by Russia are "the so-called four regions: Donbas, Crimea, you know the names, Luhansk and there's two others".

Source: Witkoff in an interview with American propagandist Tucker Carlson

Quote: "They're Russian-speaking. There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule. I think that's the key issue in the conflict."

Details: Witkoff added that this is the key issue and that very positive conversations are taking place.

He said this has always been the issue, although he claimed that no one wants to talk about it.

Quote: "That's the elephant in the room. The elephant in the room is, there are constitutional issues within Ukraine as to what they can concede to with regard to giving up territory. The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. The question is, will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Can Zelenskyy survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict. Absolutely that."

Background:

• On 19 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that territorial issues would be on the table in future peace talks to end the war. However, he stressed that "for us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian. We will not agree to it".
• Finnish President Alexander Stubb has stated that Finland’s experience shows that Ukraine should under no circumstances agree to Russia's terms if they mean the loss of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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