Ekaterina Girnyk12:31, 09.08.25

Witkoff understood the “peaceful withdrawal” of Ukrainians from Kherson and Zaporozhye, demanded by Russia, as a proposal for a “peaceful withdrawal” of Russians from these regions.

Donald Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff misunderstood Vladimir Putin’s statements about the terms of the ceasefire and perceived them as a concession. However, according to BILD sources , Putin still wants to fully control the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.

According to the publication, Putin proposed not a comprehensive, but only a partial ceasefire – a cessation of attacks on energy facilities and large cities in the rear. The US, on the contrary, proposed freezing the conflict along the current front line in exchange for a broad lifting of sanctions and new economic agreements with Russia. According to BILD, the Kremlin did not want to accept this proposal.

At the same time, the publication’s sources claim, Witkoff completely misunderstood Putin’s statements regarding the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. Thus, he understood the “peaceful withdrawal” of Ukrainians from Kherson and Zaporizhia, demanded by Russia, as a proposal for a “peaceful withdrawal” of Russians from these very regions.

“Witkoff doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” a Ukrainian government official told BILD.

According to the publication, this assessment is also shared by representatives of the German government.

Also, as BILD writes, on July 7, a telephone conference was held between the US – Special Envoy Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance – and European partners. During the conversation, the Europeans got the impression that the Americans themselves had not yet come to a common understanding of what was happening.

“This was primarily due to Witkoff, whose statements about his conversation with Putin in the Kremlin were perceived as confused. To the Europeans, he seemed overloaded and incompetent when talking about territorial issues.”

In addition, the publication notes, there are apparently disagreements between Witkoff and Rubio regarding the role of Europe. While the US Secretary of State emphasized that the Europeans should be involved in the negotiation process, Vance and Witkoff only wanted to inform Europe about the results of Trump’s further steps.

(c)UNIAN 2025