Russians made concessions ‘almost immediately,’ Trump envoy says of Putin summit
Russia gave in hastily to concessions during President Donald Trump s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage Alaska Friday according to U S special envoy Steve Witkoff The remarks come as the U S and European allies are sorting out various prevention guarantees to accompany a peace deal and after Witkoff announced Sunday that Putin was on board with permitting the U S and other European allies to provide additional protection for Ukraine akin to protections included in NATO s Article mutual defense clause I don't want to delve into the specifics of what was discussed because we're in a negotiation mediating and I think we're going to be very fruitful because of the leadership of President Trump Witkoff narrated Fox News Tuesday night JD VANCE MEASURES INTO THE SPOTLIGHT DEFENDING TRUMP'S FOREIGN APPROACH IN OVAL OFFICE DUSTUP WITH ZELENSKYY But there were concessions almost right now made on the part of the Russians in the first meeting in Alaska Witkoff mentioned And you know part of getting those concessions was learning whether we were going to be able to see the Russians prepared to be more accommodating Historically Russia has made demands that a peace deal include provisions to bar Ukraine from ever joining NATO along with concessions of certain of the borders that previously were Ukraine's TRUMP EUROPE WILL TAKE A LOT OF THE BURDEN IN PROVIDING GUARD GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINEAlthough Trump mentioned Sunday that Ukraine could end the war by agreeing to certain land concessions to Russia and eliminating the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine under a prospective peace deal the next step Trump and other European allies are working toward is hashing out measure provisions for Ukraine under such a deal That was a huge focus Monday when Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House to discuss various shield measures to prevent Russian aggression against Ukraine in the future Following the meetings Trump revealed Tuesday that sending U S troops to Ukraine to beef up prevention in the region was off the table The president has definitively stated U S boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of prevention guarantees to our European allies White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt communicated reporters Tuesday The president understands safety guarantees are crucially pivotal to ensure a lasting peace and he has directed his national safeguard organization to coordinate with our friends in Europe and also to continue to cooperate and discuss these matters with Ukraine and Russia as well TRUMP CALLS WHITE HOUSE TALKS 'VERY GOOD EARLY STEP' TOWARD RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE HERE'S WHAT'S NEXTMeanwhile Zelenskyy noted U S backing on guard guarantees is critical to delivering stability to Ukraine Protection in Ukraine depends on the United States and on you and on those leaders who are with us in our hearts Zelenskyy disclosed Monday We spoke about it and we will speak more about prevention guarantees Zelenskyy revealed This is very pivotal that the United States gives such strong signal and is ready for assurance guarantees
