The meeting comes as Trump tries to get Moscow to come to the negotiation table for a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.
Envoy Steve Witkov is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin today as part of a broader effort to normalize relations between Washington and Moscow.
A meeting comes as President Donald Trump tries to block a ceasefire contract that temporarily halts fighting in Ukraine amidst the continued Russian invasion.
Witkov was photographed with Putin before the two met at the presidential library in St. Petersburg, discussing Ukraine and other issues.
Witkov soon became a key player in the Trump administration’s diplomatic strategy, working to encourage deals in the Russian-Ukraine War and the Israeli-Hama conflict.
To that end, Putin has variously requested that Ukraine officially ban participation in NATO, limit the size of the Ukrainian army, and that Russia be given the entire territory of the four Ukrainian regions it claims, even if Moscow has no full control.
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But both of these deals quickly fell apart. The Ukrainian and Russian troops violated the ban on attacks on energy sites and accused each other of issuing new requests for the Black Sea trade.
“They are trying to drag out consultations and strand the US with endless, meaningless debates about fake ‘conditions’ in order to buy time and grab more land,” Zelensky said in Paris last month.
Trump appears to have lost patience with Moscow’s counter proposal.
“Russia has to get started,” Trump wrote on his true social media platform on Friday. “Too many thousands of people die a week in a terrible, pointless war. If I were the president, it would never have happened and never would have happened!!!”
When the US attempted to involve Russia in ceasefire negotiations, Moscow was busy trying to pad out its de facto alliance with Iran and China.
“When it comes to relations between Russia, China and the US, we should not develop relationships with other countries at the expense of another country, and vice versa,” Oberchuk said.
Putin and Trump have not held face-to-face meetings since the beginning of Trump’s second term in January.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Witkov might discuss the possibility of face-to-face between the two leaders.
Peskov told Russian state media during Witkov Putin’s speech that there was no expected breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations.
Instead, Peskov said the meeting would be an opportunity for Russia to express “concerns” to Washington.
