Putin met with Trump envoy – Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Witkoff arrived in the Russian capital to deliver detailed information on the results of this week’s US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.
Following their talks in Jeddah on Tuesday, Washington and Kiev published a joint statement in which Ukraine agreed to a proposed 30-day ceasefire with Russia, while the US announced the resumption of military aid and intelligence sharing with Kiev.
On Thursday, media reports suggested that Witkoff had personally traveled to Moscow to deliver the details of the proposal to top Russian government officials, who have yet to issue a formal response.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Peskov confirmed Witkoff’s visit, stating that the US representative had met with Putin to deliver “additional details” to the Russian leader. Putin also gave the envoy “information and additional signals for President Trump,” Peskov said.
During a press conference on Thursday, Putin stated that Russia “absolutely supports” the idea of resolving the Ukraine conflict through peaceful means and is ready to discuss Trump’s ceasefire proposal. The Russian president suggested that dialogue could include a personal conversation with the US leader.
However, he stressed that all the details of a ceasefire must first be clarified, noting that Moscow is not interested in a short-term solution and instead wants to reach a lasting resolution of the conflict.
Putin cited a system of “control and verification” to monitor any truce as well as Kiev’s potential attempts to use the pause in hostilities to rearm and reinforce its troops on the front line. He also noted the importance of clarifying the status and fate of Ukrainian troops currently encircled in Russia’s Kursk Region, where Kiev launched an incursion last year.
