Donald Trump says Witkoff made ‘great progress’ in talks with Putin on ending Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, held a “highly productive” meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, claiming “great progress” had been made towards ending the war in Ukraine, as the White House confirmed that secondary sanctions against Russia are still scheduled to go into effect by the end of the week.

Trump’s statement came after a three-hour meeting between Witkoff and Putin at the Kremlin, just two days ahead of the US-imposed deadline for Russia to show progress towards a peace agreement or face fresh economic penalties.

“My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Trump wrote on social media. “Great progress was made! Afterwards, I updated some of our European Allies. Everyone agrees this war must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come.”

KREMLIN MAY HALT LONG-RANGE STRIKES

However, Trump provided no specific details about what was discussed or agreed upon during the meeting. Russia, so far, has not shifted its key war objectives or shown any signs of making concessions.

In recent days, some unconfirmed reports have claimed that the Kremlin may be considering a halt to long-range missile strikes from both sides as an initial gesture to open negotiations. It remains unclear whether that proposal was part of the conversation during the Witkoff-Putin meeting.

Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, described the talks as “useful and constructive.”

“We sent certain messages particularly on the Ukraine issue. Some messages were also received from President Trump,” Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.

Russian news agencies said Witkoff left Moscow on Wednesday evening after being seen walking through a Central Park earlier that day alongside Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin envoy who has been involved in several earlier rounds of backchannel diplomacy.

Witkoff had visited Moscow four times before, but this was his first trip since Trump toughened his stance on the Kremlin after a series of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv that killed civilians. Following strikes, Trump accused Russia of committing atrocities and shortened an earlier 50-day deadline for peace progress.

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With inputs from agencies

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