President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff, explained that talks on ending the Ukraine war are in the Istanbul Protocol Agreement framework. That protocol refers to a deal that was nearly signed between Kiev and Moscow that would have ended the war in Ukraine within a few months.
Witkoff gave multiple interviews on Sunday, discussing ongoing negotiations about the Ukraine War. He told CNN that a deal was “very close” and could be completed in the coming week.
Witkoff said the current talks follow the Istanbul Protocol Agreement. “There were very, very what I’ll call cogent and substantive negotiations framed in something that’s called the Istanbul Protocol Agreement.” He continued, “We came very, very close to signing something, and I think we’ll be using that framework as a guidepost to get a peace deal done between Ukraine and Russia, and I think that will be an amazing day.”
In March and April 2022, the first months after the Russian invasion, US allies Israel and Turkey hosted talks between Ukraine and Russia. In Istanbul, the two sides agreed to the outline of an agreement.
Under that deal, Russia would withdraw from territory seized after the invasion in exchange for Ukrainian neutrality and limits on its military. In addition, Kiev would recognize Crimea as Russian and its Western backers would lift sanctions on Moscow.
However, Washington and London did want to end the war so soon after the invasion and promised Kiev to provide Ukraine with all the support it would need to win the war. At the time, some members of NATO saw the war as an opportunity to use Ukraine to weaken Russia.
In April 2022, then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to Kiev and informed Ukrainian President Zelensky that he would not receive Western support if he signed the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the following two years, Russia has annexed four additional regions of Ukraine. It is unclear how the current deal would differ from the initial Istanbul Protocol Agreement, as Putin has said Russia will not return annexed territory. Since talks broke down, at least hundreds of thousands have died in the conflict, with President Trump asserting the true death toll is in the millions.
On Monday, Trump indicated he would be willing to lift sanctions on Moscow, or at least begin to normalize the economic relationship between the superpowers, as part of a deal to end the war in Ukraine. “I am in serious discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia concerning the ending of the War, and also major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Talks are proceeding very well!”
US and Russian offices are preparing to meet for another round of talks later this week.
