US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in St. Petersburg on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
“The theme of the meeting – aspects of a Ukrainian settlement,” the Kremlin said in a press announcement. Russian news agencies said the meeting lasted more than four hours.
The White House said that the meeting between Witkoff and Putin was just another step towards a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dimitry Peskov said that the talks were “a good opportunity to convey Russia’s position to Trump,” but that there was “no need to expect any breakthroughs” from the talks, the Washington Post reported.
“Witkoff, being the special representative of President Trump, will bring something from his president for Putin. The conversation will continue on various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement,” Peskov told Russian reporters.
“This is another step in the negotiating process towards a ceasefire and an ultimate peace deal in Russia and Ukraine,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a Friday press briefing.
“As these negotiations are ongoing, I obviously will not get ahead of the president or his team, but I think the president has been quite clear that he’s been continually frustrated with both sides of this conflict, and he wants to see this fighting end.”
No breakthroughs
The talks about resolving the war in Ukraine come after Trump has repeatedly signaled his frustration with Russia. He has spoken of imposing secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is dragging its feet on a Ukrainian deal.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault… I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said in March.
In a Friday Truth Social post, he urged the Kremlin to move forward with peace 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!!!”
Putin has said that he supports the concept of a ceasefire, but has stated that Russian forces would fight until several crucial conditions were worked out.
“We agree with the proposal to cease hostilities, but we have to bear in mind that this ceasefire must be aimed at a long-lasting peace, and it must look at the root causes of the crisis,” he said.
One of Putin’s supposed conditions is that Russia would maintain control over the four eastern regions of the country that it has captured, which amounts to some 20% of the country. Ukrainian leaders have indicated that any territorial losses are a non-starter for Kyiv.
The Kremlin has also stated that it would want Kyiv to stop training troops and that other nations should stop sending Kyiv military support.
Witkoff reportedly told Trump that the easiest way to get a ceasefire between the two warring nations was to support a strategy that would give Russia ownership of the four eastern regions it attempted to annex illegally in 2022, according to two US officials and five people familiar with the situation.
Jesus Christ is King
Comments are closed.