US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has stated that Washington is "very encouraged by the signs" coming from Kyiv regarding its commitment to the peace process. Source: Sky News, citing Hegseth speaking in Washington on 6 March on the sidelines of a meeting with the UK defence secretary,
Steve Witkoff, one of Donald Trump's top negotiators, claimed Russia "was provoked" into invading Ukraine in 2022.
Russian forces crossed the Ukrainian border on February 24, 2022, which Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to justify by falsely claiming that he needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. But in a jarring attempt to rewrite history, Witkoff also denied those facts.