Witkoff misunderstood Putin's Ukraine land swap offer, left European leaders 'startled,' Reuters reports
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff misunderstood a Ukrainian land swap offer during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reporting to U.S. President Donald Trump that the Kremlin had offered to withdraw from the partially occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, Reuters reported on Aug. 28.
Witkoff met with Putin on Aug. 6, and a day later held a call with several European leaders detailing the plan which would see Ukraine ceding full control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in return.
Four U.S. and European officials speaking anonymously to Reuters said that many participants on the call were caught off guard and were "startled" at the proposal as they had different expectations of Putin’s intentions.
Publicly, the Kremlin has never backed down from its maximalist demands for Ukraine which include full control of the four oblasts it only partially controls — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
The next day, on Aug. 8, Witkoff reversed his stance. According to one of the sources, during a call organized by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio with European national security advisers, Witkoff clarified that Putin was not offering to withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Reuters also reports that Witkoff — a real estate mogul with no previous diplomatic experience — went to the meeting with Putin without a U.S. State Department notetaker, thus breaking standard protocol and not having a record of Putin’s proposals.
Witkoff previously visited Moscow in April for talks with Putin.
He is widely viewed as friendlier toward Russia than many others in the Trump administration and has been criticized in Ukraine and abroad for repeating Russian propaganda narratives. Last month, he reportedly pushed for the U.S. to lift energy sanctions on Russia.
Trump has since suggested that any peace deal between Ukraine and Russia would require both sides to "swap" land, a stance that has raised alarm in Kyiv and across European capitals. What exactly is meant by "land swaps" was not specified.
A source in the Ukrainian Presidential Office earlier told the Kyiv Independent that Moscow's proposal would require Kyiv to withdraw from the Ukrainian-controlled parts of the partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in exchange for a Russian pullback from parts of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts.
Zelensky has firmly rejected the possibility of handing additional Ukrainian territory over to Russian occupation as part of a peace deal, insisting on establishing a ceasefire as the first step in any negotiations.
Asked by Fox News what advice he would give to Zelensky following Alaska talks, Trump responded, "Gotta make a deal."
"Look, Russia is a very big power, and they (Ukraine) are not," Trump said.
Trump set a ceasefire as the target for the meeting, saying while heading to Alaska he was hoping to reach it the same day.
Speaking at the press conference after meeting Putin, Trump said the talks were productive but the two leaders fell short of agreeing on several points, including a significant one.
When asked by Fox News about the obstacle that prevented the two from reaching a deal, Trump refused to give any details.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has pledged to broker a swift peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow — efforts that quickly stalled as Russia repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and pushed maximalist demands during peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.
Publicly, Putin has demanded a ban on Ukraine's NATO membership and a full Ukrainian withdrawal from partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, among other conditions.
Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, followed by parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts in 2022 after holding sham referenda.
