Report Reveals Misinterpretation: Trump’s Courier Misconveyed Putin’s Message!
According to the English section of webangah News agency, citing Mehr News Agency, a source familiar with the August 6 meeting between russian President vladimir Putin and Steve Witekoff, special envoy of then-U.S. President Donald Trump for west Asia affairs,said Moscow is not willing to give up areas it has seized in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Reports indicate that during this meeting, Putin demanded that Kyiv hand over Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Moscow in exchange for a ceasefire and halting frontline hostilities.
Following this, Trump contacted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders by phone. According to Axios, some European leaders believed Putin had dropped his claim on controlling Kherson and Zaporizhzhia territories.
the informed source who requested anonymity told The Washington Post that the U.S. side interpreted Putin’s offer to stop fighting in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as a willingness to withdraw Russian forces from those areas. However, according to the source, the kremlin has no intention or readiness to concede any occupied territories.
Axios reported that Witekoff later clarified in conversations with Ukrainian and European officials that Putin had agreed solely on ceasing hostilities at current Russian positions in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The German newspaper Bild earlier quoted german and Ukrainian sources stating that Witekoff had misunderstood Putin’s intent. Bild wrote that Trump’s envoy wrongly interpreted Putin’s request for a “peaceful withdrawal” of Ukrainian troops from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as an offer for Russia’s exit from those regions. Sources told Bild that Putin still demands full control over Donetsk,Luhansk,Zaporizhzhia,and Kherson; his proposal amounts only to a limited ceasefire involving suspension of attacks on energy infrastructure and major cities behind frontlines.
