As the Ukraine-Russia war continues, United States President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in St. Petersburg to discuss potential peace deals for Ukraine, following Trump's directive to "get moving".
State TV footage showed Putin greeting Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg's presidential library at the start of negotiations, with state news agencies later reporting the talks lasted over four hours, Reuters reported.
The Meeting
According to reports, this is the third time Steve Witkoff has met with Vladimir Putin. But it is the first time we've actually seen them shaking hands and talking face-to-face, which seems significant.
After the meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "The theme of the meeting — aspects of a Ukrainian settlement," as quoted by Reuters.
Witkoff has emerged as a key figure in the rapprochement between Moscow and Washington, amid talks on the Russian side of potential joint investments in the Arctic and Russian rare earth minerals.
The Izvestia news outlet earlier released video of Witkoff leaving a hotel in the city, accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin라이브 바카라 investment envoy.
Before meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplayed expectations of significant progress, telling state media that the visit wouldn't be 'momentous'.
However, the talks come at a time when US-Russia talks aimed at agreeing on a ceasefire ahead of a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine appear to have stalled due to disagreement over the terms for a complete halt in hostilities.
In recent days, Ukrainian officials have sent Washington a list of targets they believe Russia has struck in violation of the energy infrastructure ceasefire agreed upon by the two countries last month, according to two people familiar with the list, who spoke to Reuters.
On Friday, Trump said in a post 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!!!”
While Putin has said he is ready to agree in principle to a full ceasefire, he stressed that crucial details of implementation remain unresolved and that the root causes of the war have yet to be addressed.
