The US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Friday met with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, in St. Petersburg to navigate a possible peace deal on Ukraine, reported Reuters.
The talks, which lasted for more than 4 hours, came as Trump urged Putin to “get moving” to reach a ceasefire that ends the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Putin-Witkoff Meeting
Ahead of the meeting, the Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that the Putin-Witkoff talks would focus on “various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement,” according to Russian news agency TASS.
Peskov expressed hope that the talks would “convey key elements of Russia’s position and concerns” to Trump. He also added that the meeting would discuss the normalization of ties between Moscow and Washington.
Productive Talks
After the meeting concluded, Putin’s Special Envoy and chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, described the talks with Witkoff as “productive.”
“Welcome to St. Petersburg, Russia! Productive discussions with Steven Witkoff,” he posted on X.
This marked the third meeting between Putin and Witkoff, who has emerged as a crucial player in the rapprochement attempts between Washington and Moscow.
Trump-Putin Summit
Before the talks, Peskov signaled the possibility of discussing an in-person meeting between Putin and Trump, according to Reuters. However, the Kremlin’s Spokesperson played down the Putin-Witkoff talks, telling reporters that there was “no need to expect breakthroughs” as the US Envoy’s visit would not be “momentous.”
The US President and his Russian counterpart held phone conversations but have not yet met face-to-face since Trump returned to office in January. The two leaders are expected to hold a historic summit in Saudi Arabia, in an effort to improve ties and resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
Points of Tension
The Putin-Witkoff talks came at a time of disagreements regarding conditions for a full pause of hostilities in Ukraine as part of a ceasefire deal that leads to halting the war. Trump has expressed frustration over the state of the talks.
“Russia has to get moving. Too many people (are) DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war – A war that should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened, if I were President!!!” he wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
He also hinted at imposing secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is delaying the deal with Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Putin previously rejected a US-proposed 30-day full ceasefire, agreeing instead to halt strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities for 30 days. However, he indicated that he is ready in principle for a full ceasefire but stressed that crucial implementation details and the war’s root causes must be addressed first.
Moscow’s demands include Ukraine not joining NATO, limiting its army size, and Russia getting the four Ukrainian regions it claims as its own. Kyiv has rejected Russia’s demands, saying they would amount to a capitulation.
Rebuilding Ties
The US and Russia have engaged in multiple round of talks to restore diplomatic ties and end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In the light of this, high-level officials from the two countries held talks in Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. These included two rounds of talks in Riyadh in February and March, involving US and Russian top diplomats.
Moreover, American and Russian diplomats met in Istanbul on Thursday, where they announced progress towards normalizing the work of their diplomatic missions as part of restoring ties.
The meeting also resulted in a prisoner swap where the Russian-American spa worker, Ksenia Karelina, was exchanged for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen accused of smuggling sensitive electronics to Russia’s military.
