During an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff discussed what happened during the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
00:00Ambassador Whitcoff, always good to have you on. Thank you so much.
00:03So, President Trump called this an extremely productive meeting and said many points were agreed to.
00:08You're in the room. Can you give us two specific points that were agreed to?
00:14We agreed, Jake. First of all, thank you for having me and good morning.
00:19We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game-changing.
00:26We didn't think that we were anywhere close to agreeing to Article 5 protection from the United States,
00:34legislative enshrinement within the Russian Federation, not to go after any other territory when the peace deal is codified,
00:46legislative enshrinement in the Russian Federation, not to go after any other European countries and violate their sovereignty.
00:55So, we agreed to – and there was plenty more.
00:59Oh. Here's what President Trump said going into the meeting about the need for a ceasefire. Let's roll that tape.
01:08I want to see a ceasefire rapidly. I don't know if it's going to be today, but I'm not going to be happy if it's not today.
01:14Everyone said it can't be today, but I'm just saying I want the killing to stop. I'm in this to stop the killing.
01:19Obviously, the ceasefire didn't happen. Last night, Russia launched more than 60 aerial attacks across Ukraine, killing at least five people, injuring 11.
01:30President Trump had said if he didn't like what he was hearing in the meeting, he would walk out.
01:34Why didn't he, once it became clear Putin was not going to agree to a ceasefire, which would end the bloodshed now?
01:40Well, Jake, the one thing – we were there as a mediator, so we were obviously advancing the Ukrainian view.
01:50The one thing that the president cannot agree to on behalf of the Ukrainians is any sort of land swap.
01:56That is for the Ukrainians. We have – they have asked us or stated that to us, and the president is respectful of it.
02:05But that's why we're moving so quickly to a meeting on Monday at the Oval Office with President Zelensky.
02:12That being said, we covered almost all the other issues necessary for a peace deal.
02:18So I describe the ceasefire as the interim move where you would then negotiate towards a peace deal.
02:24We made so much progress at this meeting with regard to all the other ingredients necessary for a peace deal that we – that President Trump pivoted to that place.
02:36Now, we're not waiting a week for a meeting with President Zelensky and the European leaders, or two weeks, or three weeks.
02:45We're going into a meeting with them within 48 hours of ending this meeting in Alaska.
02:51So we are intent on trying to hammer out a peace deal that ends the fighting permanently very, very quickly, quicker than a ceasefire.
03:02How would it be quicker than a – I understand the idea of, like, a larger peace deal is an important point.
03:08But it was President Trump that had said that he wanted a ceasefire agreed to at the meeting on Friday.
03:13And he didn't get it, and there are now five Ukrainians who are dead because the Russians continue to bombard Ukraine.
03:21I still don't understand how not getting the ceasefire deal is a win.
03:26I understand the idea of wanting this bigger package, of course.
03:30But a ceasefire would at least stop the bloodshed right now.
03:33So, Jake, the thesis of a ceasefire is that you'd be discussing all of these issues that we resolved in Alaska.
03:43You'd be discussing security guarantees.
03:46There's not a person on the European team who didn't acknowledge that we made substantial progress at this meeting.
03:52We certainly did.
03:53So, we cut through all kinds of issues that would be – that would have to be discussed and agreed to during a ceasefire period.
04:03What we are – the fundamental issue, which is some sort of land swap, which is obviously ultimately in the control of the Ukrainians,
04:12that could not have been discussed at this meeting.
04:15We intend to discuss it on Monday.
04:18Hopefully, we have some clarity on it.
04:20And hopefully, that ends up in a peace deal very, very soon.
04:23So, Trump told Fox that he and Putin, quote, largely have agreed on, unquote, land swaps.
04:29And sources tell CNN that Trump – President Trump told European leaders that Putin will agree to end the war
04:33and not attack Ukraine or other European countries, as you mentioned earlier,
04:37in exchange for Ukraine ceding the entire Donbass region to Russia,
04:42including territory that isn't even currently occupied by Russian forces.
04:46Is that accurate?
04:47Is that what's on the table?
04:50But Ukraine has to agree to cede all of Donbass?
04:53I think – I think – you know, look, I don't know that we have – we have the time now to go through
05:01all the different issues on these five regions.
05:05There are five regions here.
05:06It's always, in our view, been the crux of the deal.
05:11Those five regions, the Russians have previously said that they wanted it at the administrative lines.
05:19That's a – the administrative lines are the actual legal boundary lines as compared to the contact lines.
05:26We made – the Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions.
05:32There is an important discussion to be had with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there.
05:39And that discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday when President Zelensky arrives with his delegation and some of the other European leaders.
05:49And hopefully we can cut through and make some decisions right then and there on that.
05:53What more Russian concessions can you tell us about?
05:58Because obviously ceding land up to the administrative line is not a small – it's not a small thing for Ukraine to agree to.
06:05You said that Russia would agree to legislatively saying they wouldn't seize any more land in Ukraine past the administrative line,
06:13that Russia agreed to legislatively assert that they will not attack any other European countries.
06:19What other concessions from Russia might there be?
06:23They made some other concessions on several of the regions.
06:27I'm not going to discuss it now.
06:29The Ukrainians are aware of it, as are the Europeans, and it was significant.
06:34And that doesn't mean it's enough.
06:37But it was – the point was that we began to see some moderation in the way they're thinking about getting to a final peace deal.
06:46And so we feel that that's encouraging.
06:48Now, we briefed the Europeans immediately after we were done with the summit.
06:53First, we briefed President Zelensky directly.
06:57He deserved that, and the president got right on the phone with him.
07:01And then we had the Europeans on the phone.
07:03And I think everybody agreed that we had made progress.
07:06Maybe not enough for a peace deal, but we're on the path for the first time.
07:11We are seeing accommodation more than we've seen in the past, certainly more than we saw in the last administration.
07:19And that is – that's encouraging.
07:22Now we have to build on that.
07:23And we have to get a deal for the Ukrainians that allows for their self-determination, allows a protection of their sovereign borders.
07:32We have to make sure that we achieve that.
07:35And the president is intent on getting to that place.
07:37In terms of Ukrainian security guarantees, you mentioned the Article 5 guarantee of NATO, an attack on one and it's an attack on all.
07:46Russia would allow that to happen, that any more – any further incursions into Ukraine, Russia would understand, would be seen as an attack on all NATO members?
07:57No, Jake, that's not what I said.
08:01What I said is that we got to an agreement that the United States and other European nations could effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee.
08:17So, Putin has said that a red flag is NATO admission.
08:22Right.
08:22And so what we were discussing was assuming that that held, assuming that the Ukrainians could agree to that and could live with that.
08:32And everything is going to be – is going to be about what the Ukrainians can live with.
08:38But assuming they could, we were able to win the following concession, that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which would – which is the – which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO.
08:54We sort of were able to bypass that and get an agreement that the United States could offer Article 5 protection, which was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.
09:06Zelensky says he supports President Trump's plan for a trilateral meeting, Putin-Zelensky-Trump.
09:12Has Putin agreed to do such a thing?
09:18Well, my belief is that we are going to – this is my view.
09:22My belief, my view is that we are going to get to a trilateral.
09:27And what we're trying to accomplish on Monday is get some consensus from President Zelensky and his team.
09:35We had some really good, specific, granular conversation on the plane ride home with President Zelensky about what he would be seeking.
09:44And we don't think that there are any obstacles in that – in that – in that conversation that we heard.
09:49And so I'm hopeful that we have a productive meeting on Monday.
09:53We get to real consensus.
09:56We're able to come back to the Russians and push this peace deal forward and get it done and stop the killing.
10:03Did President Trump tell you at all what he and Putin talked about in their brief time just one-on-one in the Beast, the presidential limo?
10:11I did not discuss that with him, Jake, no.
10:17Ambassador Steve Woodcoff, always great to have you here.
10:20I think everybody here is praying for peace and hoping that this works.
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