Trump envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Ukrainians ‘this week’ – says there’s still a chance for Putin-Zelensky meeting  

President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Tuesday that he plans to meet with representatives from Ukraine in New York later in the week as Russia continues to appear reluctant to directly engage with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

“I’m meeting with the Ukrainians this week,” Witkoff told Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier, when asked about the next steps in the Trump administration’s efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.  

“So I will be meeting with them this week in New York, and that’s a big signal,” the president’s point man on Russia-Ukraine negotiations added. 

Trump has pushed for a bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, in the hopes that a face-to-face sitdown would allow the pair to hash out terms of a peace deal.  

The White House indicated Moscow was open to a president-level meeting after Trump met with Zelensky and seven other Western leaders at the White House on Aug. 18, but the Kremlin has since pushed back on the claim.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy as Ukraine’s leader, further suggesting that direct, in-person talks between Kyiv and the Kremlin are unlikely. 

Witkoff, however, indicated that a bilateral summit might still happen.  

“We talk to the Russians every day,” he told Baier. “I think that we may end up seeing a bilateral meeting.” 

“My own opinion is that [Trump] is going to be needed at the table to finish a deal.” 

Witkoff asserted that Putin “absolutely” told Trump during their meeting in Alaska earlier this month that he wanted to see peace in Ukraine and put forward a proposal, which the Trump administration official acknowledged may not be good enough for the Ukrainian side to accept. 

“There’s a peace proposal on the table,” Witkoff said, noting that it  “involves Donetsk” and “may not be something that the Ukrainians can take.” 

The special envoy described Trump as being “disappointed” with both Ukraine and Russia over the slow progress towards peace. 

“He’s disappointed because he doesn’t believe that this –  it’s not his war and he doesn’t believe it’s a war that needs to continue, and he wants the death to stop,” Witkoff said. 

“So, I think that he looks at this as: I have to do everything I can. I am the man of the moment, who can end this thing. I have to figure out how to do everything I can to bring the two sides together – and if I can’t, to force them together,” he added. 

The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for details about Witkoff’s upcoming meeting with the Ukrainians.