'Whitkoff doesn't understand the situation'. Kremlin says US special envoy misinterpreted Putin's position - BILD

The US special envoy has misunderstood Putin and the Kremlin still wants four Ukrainian regions. This is what Bild writes about.

BILD's sources say that Vladimir Putin still intends to fully control Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions. At the same time, he has proposed only a partial ceasefire - a refusal to attack energy facilities and major cities in the rear, but not a complete cessation of hostilities.

According to BILD, US special envoy Steve Whitkoff misinterpreted Putin's statements and mistook them for a concession he was willing to make. Thus, Whitkoff understood the "peaceful withdrawal" of Ukrainian troops from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions demanded by Russia as a "peaceful withdrawal" of Russian troops from these regions.

Whitkoff does not know what he is talking about," a Ukrainian government official told BILD.

According to the newspaper, the same assessment is shared by representatives of the German government.

on 7 July, BILD learned that a telephone conference between the US - Special Envoy Whitkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance - and European partners took place in the evening. During the conversation, European partners were displeased with Whitkoff's statements about his conversation with Putin, which seemed to the Europeans confusing and incompetent, especially on territorial issues.

In addition, Whitkoff and Rubio disagreed over Europe's role in the negotiation process. The Secretary of State insisted on the active participation of European countries, while Vance and Whitkoff favoured a limited European informative role in the outcome of further steps by the Trump administration.