Chicago Thursday, August 28th, 2025
U.S. special messenger Steve Witkoff had a big meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Afterward, he called President Donald Trump with huge news. Witkoff said that Putin was ready to make a major deal to stop the war in Ukraine by trading some land. Trump was super excited and called it “great progress,” immediately agreeing to have a giant summit with Putin to talk about it.
The plan was explained on a call with leaders from Europe. Witkoff told them that Putin’s idea was to pull his troops out of the Ukrainian areas of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. But in return, Ukraine would have to give up the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia forever. This news totally surprised the European leaders. They were confused because it was the complete opposite of what they thought Putin wanted.
Then, things got even more confusing. The very next day, Witkoff seemed to change his story completely. On another call with top security advisers, he reportedly said that Putin was actually not offering to give up those two territories at all. This left everyone wondering what was really going on and if a peace deal was even possible.
