The United States has come “very close” to reaching a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, US Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff said on Sunday 23 February.

As reported by the Voice of America, Witkoff did not specify the terms of such a potential agreement, but emphasized that in any peace deal “each side is going to make concessions, whether it is territorial concessions or economic concessions.”

“You will see concessions on both sides. And this is what the president does best. He unites people. He makes them realize that the way to peace is through concessions and consensus building. And I think you’re going to see a very successful outcome here,” Witkoff insisted.

If Russia were to attack a NATO ally, he says, President Trump “would be fulfilling the United States’ Article 5 obligation to defend allies.”

“We came very, very close to signing something,” Witkoff assured, adding that the Istanbul Protocol Agreement could become ”a guideline for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.”

According to media reports, a draft peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine was discussed in April 2022, after talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations held in Istanbul in late March.

An investigation of the agreement by Radio Liberty indicates that the draft included such conditions for reducing Kyiv’s military power and international obligations that “the agreement would have left Ukraine very vulnerable, as Russian troops would have remained in place and Kyiv would not have been able to defend itself or seek security support from the West. Kyiv would have to pay for the restoration of Donbas.”

Witkoff added that Donald Trump “wants to be a peacemaker president, [to achieve] peace through strength.”

Russia ”was provoked” into attacking Ukraine

According to Witkoff, Russia’s war against Ukraine “was provoked.”

“There were all kinds of talks about Ukraine joining NATO… This actually became a threat to the Russians, and so we have to deal with this fact,” Witkoff said.

The previous US presidential administration insisted that Russia’s war against Ukraine was unprovoked and rejected the notion that Russia’s attack was provoked by NATO’s intentions to expand.

“In any case, the Russians made it clear that they are ready to stop it. It was a very, I would say, convincing and substantial negotiation within the framework of something called the Istanbul Protocol agreement. We came very, very close to signing something, and I think we will use this framework as a guide for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia,” Witkoff concluded.

Related:

• German media publish Russian-Ukrainian peace agreement that could have been signed at the beginning of the war
• Russia demanded to cut Ukrainian army to 50,000 and install pro-Moscow leader in 2022 peace talks, Zelenskyy says
• Putin claims Ukraine’s collapse without Western aid, Zelenskyy accuses him of prolonging war