The #US special envoy stated that the Ukrainian authorities agreed to hold elections. "Yes, they will happen. They agreed to it. There will be elections in #Ukraine," said U.S. President's special envoy Stephen Witkoff in an interview with Tucker Carlson. He did not specify who exactly in Kyiv said this or when the vote might take place.

Kyiv has not yet commented on these remarks. Witkoff made them in response to Carlson’s assertion that the Russian authorities refuse to sign any agreement with Volodymyr #Zelensky, accusing him of illegitimacy due to the absence of scheduled presidential elections in Ukraine.

"The biggest question in this conflict is the so-called four regions. Donbas (Luhansk and Donetsk regions – Ed.), Crimea, and the other two (Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions – Ed.). They are Russian-speaking. Referendums were held there, where the overwhelming majority of the population said they wanted to be under Russian control. I think this is the key issue in the conflict, the primary one. Once it is resolved, we will have very positive discussions," the U.S. President's special envoy added.

According to him, #Russia de facto controls these territories, but Ukrainian laws prohibit recognizing this. "The question is whether the world will recognize them as Russian territories. And whether Zelensky can politically survive if he acknowledges this. This is the central problem in the conflict," Witkoff said. According to him, Zelensky and the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, have already "largely acknowledged that they will not become a #NATO member."
#US #Ukraine #Zelensky #Russia #NATO