U.S. envoy says Trump has threatened to leave peace negotiations if direct talks between Russia and Ukraine don't occur soon

Donald Trump has “issued an ultimatum” to Russia and Ukraine, saying that Washington will leave the negotiating table if they don’t engage in direct talks soon, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told Breitbart in an interview published Monday.

“This is something that we want to mediate. It’s not our war. We didn’t start the war, but we want to help to end it,” Witkoff said.

He added that key topics that must be addressed in the talks include control of Ukraine's occupied territories, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukraine’s access to the Dnipro River and the Black Sea.

He also said his repeated visits to Russia were based on the idea that the U.S. needs to speak with all parties involved and get first-hand information. He added that he doesn’t understand the argument that there’s no need to communicate with Putin. “There is no deal without President Putin’s sign off,” he said.