During a press conference in Kyiv, Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon asked US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff whether Vladimir Putin was using the negotiations to deceive the American side.
He noted that Witkoff had met the Russian leader several times and asked whether Moscow’s actions demonstrated that Russia understood only the “language of force.”
Gordon also asked whether the US envoy felt uncomfortable sitting at the same table as Putin, whom the journalist described as an international war criminal responsible for the tragedy of the Ukrainian people.
Witkoff avoided directly answering whether Putin might be deceiving him. Instead, he said maintaining contact with the Russian side was necessary to find a diplomatic path toward ending the war.
According to the envoy, personal communication is critical to resolving conflicts of this kind. He described his role as helping the parties narrow their differences and seek a possible compromise.
Witkoff added that the talks held over the previous 48 hours offered some grounds for hope of further progress, although no concrete agreement had yet been reached.
At the same time, during his meeting at the Kremlin, Witkoff told Putin that after retiring, he would remember their conversations as among the best and most memorable experiences of his life.
