Donald Trump has said his plan to end the war in Ukraine has been “fine-tuned” and he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Vladimir Putin, and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet Ukrainian officials. Yet despite White House optimism there was little sign of progress on core sticking points as diplomatic efforts continued. Trump said his son-in-law Jared Kushner might join the Witkoff-Putin meeting. “Steve Witkoff is going over maybe with Jared. I’m not sure about Jared going, but he’s involved in the process, smart guy, and they’re going to be meeting with President Putin, I believe next week in Moscow,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One. Trump also backed away from his earlier Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree to a US-backed peace plan, saying: “The deadline for me is when it’s over.” He played down the element of his plan that would require Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, suggesting Russian forces were already likely to seize the land they’re seeking. “The way it’s going, if you look, it’s just moving in one direction,” he said. “So eventually that’s land that over the next couple of months might be gotten by Russia anyway.”
