DAVOS, Switzerland: The United States (US) could allow Ukraine to export goods to the US duty free if Kyiv agrees to a peace plan, US envoy Steve Witkoff said today (Jan 22), reported German Press Agency (dpa).
“The president has talked about a tariff-free zone from Ukraine. That, I think, could be game-changing,” Witkoff said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Witkoff said such a deal would give the Eastern European country a major competitive advantage, with industry potentially moving into Ukraine “in a huge way”.
The negotiator, appointed by President Donald Trump, also said “a lot of progress” has been made in Davos in talks with the Ukrainian side on a peace plan to end the war with Russia.
“I think we’ve narrowed it down to one issue,” Witkoff said, without specifying what that issue is.
Kyiv and Moscow have held sharply different positions on territorial questions.
The Kremlin continues to demand a full Ukrainian withdrawal from the Donetsk region, nearly 80 per cent of which is under Russian control.
Witkoff praised Ukraine’s negotiating team and said President Volodymyr Zelensky was consistently accessible during the talks.
The US envoy said he would travel later today to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin but would not stay overnight, before heading on to Abu Dhabi.
In the United Arab Emirates, working groups were to be convened to discuss military, non-military and economic aspects of a potential settlement in Ukraine, though Witkoff gave no details on their composition.
Ukraine has been resisting a Russian invasion for nearly four years with Western support.
Since Trump returned to office a year ago, Washington has sought to broker a peace settlement between the two neighbours. – BERNAMA-dpa
