White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt. Photo: Zuma Press
The Donald Trump administration is signalling the possibility of economic partnership with the United States for Russia as a potential incentive to end the war against Ukraine. This was stated by White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt at a briefing on Tuesday.
The statement came after Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, met with Vladimir Putinin St Petersburg.
“There is an incentive for Russia to end this war, and perhaps it could be an economic partnership with the United States,” Levitt said.
According to her, the meeting was “productive”, and Vitkoff is convinced that Russia wants to end the war, which is also the belief of President Trump.
The day before, in an interview with Fox News, Vitkoff said that the talks were about a peace plan that included “five territories”. Although he did not specify, this is likely to be Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, regions that Russia has partially or fully occupied and illegally annexed.
“I see an opportunity to redefine the relationship between the US and Russia through powerful business incentives,” Vitkoff said, adding that this could allegedly “bring stability to the region.”
It is worth noting that despite Trump’s loud promises to stop the war, he has so far achieved only a 30-day temporary ceasefire in the energy sector, which the parties have repeatedly accused each other of violating.
