As negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, the Trump administration is resorting to the Middle East to show progress towards historical agreements and comply with the president’s vote of being a global peacemaker.
Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East and the mediator Steve Witkoff made a surprise ad in the White House on Wednesday, stating that he believed that a temporary truce in Gaza was now within reach, and that he could lead to “a peaceful resolution of that conflict.”
“I think we are in the precipice of sending a new terms sheet, which will luckily be delivered today today. The president will review it, and I have very good feelings about reaching a long -term resolution,” Witkoff said.
American officials said they expected the frame to be transmitted to Israel and Hamas through mediators on Wednesday or early Thursday, and that Witkoff’s optimism reason was that the administration believes that the terms of the new proposal to ensure that conversations continue after the initial hostage release and the 60 -day prolongation cessation would appeal to both parties.
Special sent to the Middle East Steve Witkoff talks to the Meida while President Donald Trump listens to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on May 28, 2025.
Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Images
Any break in the war would also present the opportunity to expand a freshly released effort and backed by the United States to distribute humanitarian aid in Gaza, which was criticized this week after multiple videos arose that show a widespread chaos in the distribution sites.
Negotiations can still face a uphill battle, particularly with Hamas.
The three -day initial peace agreement was aimed at ending the War in Gaza, which was negotiated by members of the Biden and Trump administrations, collapsed in March after Israel tried to extend the initial stage of the agreement to rescue more detainees from Gaza without proceeding to deeper negotiations aimed at reaching a solution of two states. At the time of Deal’s collapse, the Trump administration supported the extension proposed by Israel.
However, the president has adopted a harder approach to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, revealing on Wednesday that he would be “inappropriate” to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.
“I told him that this would be inappropriate to do right now because we are very close to a solution. Now that could change at any time, I could change with a phone call. But at this time, I think they want to make a deal,” Trump said about Iran.
“We are very good with Iran,” he said. “We have progressed a lot, and we’ll see.”
During the last weeks of direct and indirect negotiations with Iran, Trump administration officials have become increasingly optimistic about the potential to negotiate a nuclear agreement, although officials say that there are still several key gaps, including if Tehran could continue to enrich their own uranium or if it would have to resort to import the importation of the materials to their civil nuclear program.
The Administration has explored to take a series of steps destined to demonstrate a tangible progress of their conversations with Iran, including the possibility of issuing some type of joint memo with Iran and potentially expanding the United States delegation with Iran to include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to two US officials familiar with the matter they agreed that the final decision has not been achieved.
In negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, the president said he would give Moscow more time before determining if Russian President Vladimir Putin really wanted peace.
“I can’t tell you that. But I’ll let you know in about two weeks,” Trump said Wednesday. “We are going to discover if you are taking advantage of us or not. And if it is, we will respond a bit in a slightly different way.”
Russia has proposed to send a work level delegation to Istanbul to present its terms to Ukraine to achieve a short -term fire next week, which calls a “peace memorandum”, but Ukrainian officials have resisted the delay.
“Why wait until Monday? If the Russians have finally elaborated their” memorandum “, after ten days of reflections and attacks, we can happen immediately,” said Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha.
Kremlin’s critics believe that pushing direct conversations plays the Russian battlefield strategy, since intelligence indicates that Moscow continues to prepare for a warm climate offensive aimed at capturing significant amounts of Ukrainian territory, even while continuing to participate in the peace process directed by the United States to finish the war.
