President Donald Trump’s trusted overseas envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, after the Kremlin requested that Witkoff go to in a last-ditch effort to keep away from the punishing new sanctions Trump has threatened to impose this week, individuals acquainted with the matter mentioned.
Witkoff landed in Moscow on Wednesday morning and was greeted on the airport by Russia’s funding envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Reuters reported. Video later posted by the Kremlin confirmed him shaking fingers with Putin forward of their assembly.
The assembly ended after about three hours, Russian state media TASS reported, citing the Russian presidential press service.
Whether Putin was in a position to convince Witkoff — and, by extension, Trump — that he’s focused on ending Russia’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine stays an open query. Trump has forged doubt on Putin’s willingness to cease the combating and seems cautious of being strung alongside by a frontrunner he now brazenly distrusts.
Putin, in the meantime, has maintained his maximalist ambitions for the battle, together with capturing the Ukrainian areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson and insisting Ukraine restrict the scale of its army.
Trump mentioned a day forward of Witkoff’s assembly he would wait till the talks conclude to determine whether or not to impose the brand new sanctions.
“We’re going to see what happens,” he mentioned on the White House. “We’ll make that determination at that time.”
When requested by a reporter after arriving in Russia, Witkoff didn’t share his expectations forward of the talks, Russian state media TASS mentioned.
The surroundings in Moscow shall be far completely different than the final time Witkoff sat down with Putin in April — with Trump’s frustration towards his Russian counterpart mounting in latest months. Since the April assembly, Russia has resisted US-led efforts to dealer a peace in Ukraine, ramping up an onslaught of missiles and drones which have focused Ukrainian cities, together with the capital Kyiv.
A day forward of Witkoff’s go to, Trump spoke by cellphone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to debate potential sanctions on Moscow, in line with individuals acquainted with the dialog. In a readout of the assembly posted on social media, Zelensky mentioned these sanctions may “change a lot” with regards to the Russian financial system.
Zelensky also said they mentioned the rise of American weapons help to Ukraine, paid for by NATO allies, a coverage Trump green-lit final month.
The US president has grown more and more impatient at Russia’s resistance to his peace efforts, calling the air assaults “disgusting” and accusing Putin of peddling “bullsh*t” of their tense cellphone conversations.
He has set a Friday deadline for Russia to both conform to a peace deal or undergo new sanctions, together with by itself financial system and on purchasers of its vitality merchandise. Trump truncated his authentic 50-day timeline after seeing little motion from Russia. Yet he has additionally forged doubt that any new sanctions will show efficient after Moscow discovered methods to skirt the heaps of western measures utilized because the conflict started.
“There’ll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions,” Trump mentioned Sunday. “You know, they’re wily characters, and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions. So we’ll see what happens.”
Trump additionally introduced late final week that he was ordering the repositioning of two US nuclear submarines in an effort to be “prepared” – a response to inflammatory remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and present deputy chairman of its safety council.
But even Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned after these feedback that Medvedev was not a related participant and defined that his remarks have been unlikely to “be a factor one way or another.”
Some Europeans officers considered Trump’s announcement as a attainable effort to spotlight US nuclear capabilities in preparation for Witkoff’s go to, two sources instructed NCS. It stays unclear if the US truly repositioned any of its nuclear submarines.
Trump has threatened two distinct kinds of measures ought to Moscow not attain Friday’s deadline for peace. He has mentioned he’ll apply new sanctions on Russian imports to the US, which might have minimal impression given the near-stoppage in commerce between the 2 international locations because the begin of the conflict.
Trump has additionally promised “secondary tariffs” on international locations that import Russian vitality — which would come with China and India, the nation’s largest vitality clients. That may probably do extra to chop off funding for Russia’s conflict machine.
“Is August 8 an actual deadline or part of Trump’s approach, which often involves manufacturing leverage points, and then determining how to use them?” mentioned one US official. “It is not real until Trump decides it is, which is based on a number of unidentified variables.”
There have been lively efforts to attract up these attainable secondary sanctions in latest weeks, US officers mentioned, including that they imagine that Trump’s frustration with Putin is so intense that he would possibly inexperienced mild these measures. But Trump can also be prone to again down if Russia makes a substantive supply, sources mentioned.
“These are gut feelings for him,” mentioned one supply near the White House. “It depends how he can sell it to his base.”
The US and its western allies have taken quite a few steps to attempt stifling Moscow’s vitality revenues, together with making use of a value cap on Russian crude. But to date, it hasn’t brought on Putin to alter course. And Russia has been in a position to evade among the measures on its vitality merchandise by utilizing a “shadow fleet” of tankers, whose possession is hidden, to promote to China and India.
Trump mentioned that might change if the worth of Russian oil drops considerably.
“Putin will stop killing people if you get energy down another $10 a barrel. He’s going to have no choice because his economy stinks,” the president mentioned in a Tuesday phone interview on CNBC.
Russia’s financial system has seen latest indicators of weak point, together with rampant inflation and better meals prices, as the load of the three-and-a-half yr conflict begins to take extra of an impact.
Trump has already mentioned he’ll apply a considerable tariff hike on India for its Russian vitality purchases as he concurrently works to extract concessions from New Delhi on a commerce deal.
“They’re fueling the war machine, and if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy,” Trump instructed CNBC.
India has argued its Russian vitality purchases have stabilized the worldwide oil market.
It’s much less clear how intent Trump is on making use of new measures on China for its Russian vitality purchases. He stays on the hunt for a complete commerce settlement with Beijing, and US officers have described making vital progress in latest talks with their Chinese counterparts. Still, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent straight instructed his Chinese counterparts throughout commerce talks in Stockholm last month that they need to be prepared for sanctions in the event that they proceed to purchase Russian oil.
Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping have additionally deepened their relationship lately, and Chinese help for Russia’s conflict efforts extends effectively past vitality purchases. China has offered Russia with elements for its weapons and drones used to assault Ukraine.
Putin and Xi are anticipated to satisfy in Beijing initially of September round a commemoration ceremony marking the eightieth anniversary of the top of World War II.
In latest months, Witkoff performed a much less lively position within the Ukraine conflict talks as a consequence of Russia’s refusal to take substantial steps to drive an finish to the battle.
During that point, Trump and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg maintained common communications with the Ukrainians, with Kellogg visiting Kyiv final month.
Trump additionally started to alter his tone on Ukraine, saying it wants the power to defend itself.
But with Witkoff visiting Russia once more for the primary time in months, there’s a renewed highlight on his position. Earlier this yr, there have been considerations amongst US officers and Russia specialists about the actual property developer’s diplomatic inexperience, significantly after he went into a number of early conferences with Putin with no US translator by his facet.
After his final assembly with Putin, Witkoff predicted the Russian chief “sees the opportunity for the first time in decades” to recalibrate the US-Russia relationship — although months later the conflict is ongoing and US-Russia relations haven’t improved.
Still, even as talks with Russia took a backseat in latest months, Witkoff stayed engaged on Gaza talks and Iran talks, sustaining an lively position in Trump’s inside circle.