US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, held discussions with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday regarding the pursuit of a peace agreement in Ukraine, as Trump urged Russia to “get moving.”
Putin was shown on state TV greeting Witkoff at the presidential library in St. Petersburg at the commencement of the negotiations. The Izvestia news outlet had previously released video footage of Witkoff departing a hotel in the city, accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s investment envoy.
Witkoff has emerged as a key figure in the fluctuating rapprochement between Moscow and Washington, amidst discussions on the Russian side regarding potential joint investments in the Arctic and Russian rare earth minerals.
However, these talks are taking place at a time when the US-Russia dialogue aimed at securing a ceasefire ahead of a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine appears to have stalled due to disagreements over the conditions for a complete cessation of hostilities.
Trump, who has displayed signs of impatience, has mentioned imposing secondary sanctions on countries that purchase Russian oil if he believes Moscow is delaying progress on a Ukrainian agreement.
On Friday, he posted on Truth Social: “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 stated that he is, in principle, ready to agree to a full ceasefire, but has indicated that numerous crucial conditions concerning its implementation have yet to be agreed upon, and that the root causes of the war have not been addressed.
Specifically, he has stipulated that Ukraine should not join NATO, that the size of its army needs to be limited, and that Russia should acquire the entirety of the territory of the four Ukrainian regions it claims as its own, despite not fully controlling any of them.
With Moscow controlling just under 20% of Ukraine and Russian forces continuing their advance on the battlefield, the Kremlin believes Russia is in a strong negotiating position and that Ukraine should make concessions.
Kyiv maintains that Russia’s terms would amount to capitulation.
Trump-Putin Meeting?
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that Putin and Witkoff might discuss the possibility of a face-to-face meeting between the Russian leader and Trump.
Putin and Trump have spoken by phone but have not met in person since the US leader’s return to the White House in January for a second four-year term.
However, Peskov downplayed the significance of the Witkoff-Putin talks, informing Russian state media before they commenced that the US envoy’s visit would not be “momentous” and that no breakthroughs were expected.
He stated that the meeting would provide an opportunity for Russia to express its “concerns.” Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of violating a moratorium on strikes against each other’s energy infrastructure.
The meeting, the third this year between Putin and Witkoff, occurs at a time when US tensions with Iran and China, both close allies of Moscow, have been heightened by Tehran’s nuclear program and a burgeoning trade war with Beijing.
Witkoff, who visited a synagogue in St. Petersburg earlier on Friday, is scheduled to travel to Oman on Saturday for talks with Iran regarding its nuclear program. Trump has threatened Tehran with military action if it does not agree to a deal. Moscow has repeatedly offered its assistance in facilitating a diplomatic settlement.
US and Russian officials reported progress during talks in Istanbul on Thursday toward normalizing the operations of their diplomatic missions as they begin to rebuild ties.
A February meeting between Witkoff and Putin culminated in the US envoy returning home with Marc Fogel, an American teacher whom Washington had claimed was wrongfully detained by Russia.
A Russian-American spa worker, Ksenia Karelina, who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in Russia, was exchanged on Thursday for Arthur Petrov, whom the US had accused of orchestrating a global smuggling ring to transfer sensitive electronics to Russia’s military.
