The Special White House Embassy Steve Witkoff said that Kiev “agreed” to organize the presidential election in Ukraine. Politico reported on Saturday, according to which Witkoff did not provide details or evidence to support his claim, writes TASR.
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, the envoy said on Friday that “there would be elections in Ukraine” and added that the leaders of Ukraine agreed.
According to Politico, US President Donald Trump’s administration increases pressure to force Ukraine to organize elections. These are postponed in accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution because the state of war is valid in the country.
Trump even described the Ukrainian president as a “dictator without elections” last month. Politico writes that this claim is in accordance with Russia supported by narratives that seek to undermine the legitimacy of the Ukrainian leadership.
Critics said they would issue Ukraine to Russia’s destabilization tactics
Critics argue that the elections during the ongoing war would exhibit Ukraine of Russia’s destabilization tactics. Their organization in a country, which has been defending Russian invasion for more than three years, would be logistically demanding. Moreover, many voters have escaped or fighting from the country on the front.
This month, the Politico portal sources of the Ukrainian Parliament and American Republicans said that four high -ranking co -workers Trump led secret negotiations with representatives of the Ukrainian opposition, including former Prime Minister Julija Tymoshenko and leading members of the ex -president Petr Poroshenko. The discussions were focused on possible quick organization of the presidential election. After the media coverage of this report, Poroshenko and Tymoshenko supported the postponement of the elections in Ukraine until the war unleashed Russia in February 2022 ends.
In an interview, Witkoff also spoke of the possible accession of Ukraine to NATO, which Russia categorically disagrees with. “If a peace agreement is to be concluded, Ukraine cannot be a member of NATO. I think it is largely accepted,” the American envoy said.
The White House envoy also stated that he was impressed by the “kind” President Vladimir Putin during their conversations, and praised him as “wise and direct”.
According to Witkoff, the biggest obstacle in solving the Russian war in Ukraine is the status of the Crimea Peninsula and four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia. According to CNN, he called them an “elephant in the room” in peace talks. In connection with these areas, the ambassador also mentioned the referendums of autumn 2022, in which “the vast majority of people said he wanted to be under the Russian government”. Kiev, West and international observers have identified these referendums as false, recalls AFP.
