“The special representative of the US president, Steve Witkoff, planned to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Turkey on November 19 to discuss a new “peace plan”, but the meeting did not take place, as the Ukrainian president arrived with a different plan.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Steve Witkoff. photo by Getty Images Source: Axios edition with reference to sources, “European Truth”
Details: Witkoff planned to visit Ankara on Wednesday and hold a tripartite meeting with Zelenskyi and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, a US official told the publication.
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The official said the meeting was postponed when it became clear that Zelensky was not interested in discussing the US plan. Instead, Zelensky went to Ankara with a different plan developed with European partners that Russia would never accept, the US representative said.
A Ukrainian official said the meeting was postponed because Zelenskyy asked to discuss the plan in a broader format that would include European countries.
Another American official said that the internal political scandal in Ukraine related to the corruption investigation against Zelenskyi’s entourage was another reason for postponing the meeting.
The official noted that Trump authorized Witkoff to try to reach an agreement with Zelenskyi in Turkey and supported the decision to cancel the meeting with the Ukrainian president.
“Now we will wait. The ball is in Zelenskyi’s court,” the American official said.
He noted that Zelensky can come to Washington to discuss the new US plan if he wants.
According to the media, the new 28-point US “peace plan” for ending the war in Ukraine includes, among other things, handing over the entire Donbas to Russia, reducing the Ukrainian army by half, and recognizing the Russian language as the state language.
According to the Axios portal, the plan was developed, in particular, by US Ambassador Steven Witkoff and the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev.
The White House expresses optimistic hopes of agreeing on a framework for ending the war in Ukraine by the end of the month.