President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkov, met with St. Petersburg’s Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine.
TV in the Russian state on Friday aired images of Putin’s greetings greeting Witkov at the city’s presidential library at the start of negotiations.
“The painstaking work continues. Naturally, as President Trump’s special representative, Witkov will bring something from the president to Putin,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying that Russia’s TASS communications agency had said just before the discussion.
“Putin hears it. The conversation continues on various aspects of Ukrainian settlements.”
Previously, Russian state media released footage of Witkov and Russian economic negotiator Kiril Dmitriev and left the hotel in St. Petersburg.
Discussions to secure a ceasefire contract to end the Ukrainian war have stagnated amid negotiations on terms that will end the conflict.
At the end of March, Trump said he was “very angry” and “p**** d off” after President Putin criticised the credibility of Ukrainian President Voldy Mie Zelensky’s leadership.
In an interview with NBC News, Trump threatened tariffs on Russian oil. “If Russia and I can’t stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it’s Russia’s fault,” he threatened.
On Friday morning, Trump told his true social platform: “Russia must move.
“Too many are dying (sic), thousands a week, dying in a terrible, meaningless war, he said.
No breakthroughs expected
Last month, Putin rejected U.S. Ukraine’s joint proposal for a complete and unconditional ceasefire.
Russia and Ukraine agreed to halt attacks on energy infrastructure in March, but both sides have condemned each other’s continued attacks.
Speaking to Al Jazeera in the Russian capital, Moscow, correspondent Julia Shapovalova, pointed out that the Kremlin “doesn’t expect a breakthrough.”
“The message from the US President to Russia brought to Steve Witkov is very clear: it is a ceasefire in Ukraine,” Shapovalova said.
“However, analysts believe Putin is not very interested in showing that Russia is ready for a ceasefire as Russia is slowly but steadily moving forward in terms of Ukraine.”
She added that Russia’s demands will not change either.
It opposes the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), wants to reduce the US presence in Europe, and calls for security and non-interference in its domestic affairs.
“That being said, we can see that oil prices are falling in the market, which may mean that Russia cannot play this war in the long term,” Shapovarova said.
Mend
Witkov, meanwhile, became a key figure in the debate between Washington and Moscow.
After his final meeting with Putin, Witkov said that the Russian president was a “great leader” and “not a bad guy.”
Most recently, US and Russian officials held talks in Turkier on Thursday.
Both sides said they have made progress towards normalizing the work of their diplomatic missions.
On the same day, Russia released Russian-American Xenia Karelina from prison in exchange for technology smuggler Arthur Petrov.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the prisoners’ exchanges helped build “very necessary” and “trust” between the sides after being detained under Biden.