Trump envoy Witkoff meets Putin ahead of peace deadline: Kremlin

Kyiv: Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, days before the White House’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil.

The meeting between Putin and Witkoff lasted about three hours. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Putin and Witkoff had a “useful and constructive conversation” that focused on the Ukrainian crisis and, in a nod toward improving relations between Washington and Moscow, “prospects for possible development of strategic cooperation between the US and Russia.”

Earlier, Witkoff took an early morning stroll through Zaryadye Park, a stone’s throw from the Kremlin, with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s envoy for investment and economic cooperation, footage aired by TASS showed. Dmitriev said later on social platform X that “dialogue will prevail.” Dmitriev played a key role in three rounds of direct talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in recent months.