Media: Vitkoff advised Trump to give Putin several regions of Ukraine
11 April 2025 23:18
US Presidential Special Envoy Steve told Donald Trump that the fastest step to peace in Ukraine is to give Russia ownership of four eastern Ukrainian regions. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Reuters.
According to the agency, after his meeting with the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, which took place last week, Vitkoff met with Trump. It was then that he told the American president about the fastest step to peace.
“According to Mr. Vitkoff, the fastest way to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine is to support a strategy that would give Russia ownership of the four eastern regions of Ukraine it tried to illegally annex in 2022,” two U.S. officials and five people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
It is worth noting that Vitkoff has expressed this opinion before, but this was the first time he voiced it to Trump. After that, the President’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, confronted Vitkoff, saying that Ukraine would never unilaterally agree to cede full ownership of the territories to Russia.
The meeting ended without Trump making a decision to change the US strategy. Vitkoff traveled to Russia on Friday to meet with Putin.
Against this backdrop, officials in the Trump administration are increasingly divided on how to break the deadlock between Ukraine and Russia.
It is noted that, contrary to normal security procedures, Vitkoff invited Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian ambassador under US sanctions after Russia’s invasion, to his personal residence for dinner before the meeting at the White House.
According to two people familiar with the situation, this raised alarms at the White House and the State Department. US officials avoid hosting officials from Russia, which has advanced intelligence capabilities, at home.
The dinner was postponed and held at the White House instead.
Vitkoff, a longtime friend of Trump’s who has helped secure key diplomatic victories for the president, has garnered some support from GOP skeptics on Ukraine, but his proposals have sparked outrage among other Republicans who believe the administration has turned too sharply toward Moscow.
Some Republicans on Capitol Hill were so disturbed by Wittkoff’s apparent pro-Russian stance that several Republicans subsequently called National Security Adviser Mike Walz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to complain, according to a person familiar with the calls.
