American special envoy Steve Witkoff met President Putin at Saint Petersburg, two sides exchanged for more than 4 hours on Ukraine.
Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of US President Donald Trump, on April 11 to Russia and met President Vladimir Putin at the presidential library in Saint Petersburg. The 4.5 -hour meeting with the participation of many senior Russian officials, including Kirill Dmitriev, President Putin’s special envoy on international investment and economic cooperation, and Yuri Ushakov, adviser of Russian leader.
The Kremlin said the meeting focused on “different aspects in solving Ukrainian problems”, but did not explain or provide additional details. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had previously said that Russia hoped to convey the “main contents of its stance and concern” to President Trump through the meeting.
Witkoff special envoy and President Putin met at Saint Petersburg on 11/4. Video: Kremlin electricity
Before talking to President Putin, the Witkoff special envoy met Dmitriev separately and was taken to visit some locations in Saint Petersburg. Mr. Dmitriev said that he had an “effective dialogue” with the American specialist, but did not specify.
In the message posted on social networks before the meeting, President Trump urged Russia to act and say that “nonsense conflicts in Ukraine should have never happened”.
White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt said the meeting was a “next step” in an attempt to negotiate the ceasefire and the last peaceful agreement between Russia and Ukraine. “President Trump said quite clearly that he was constantly disappointing with both sides in the conflict and wanted to see the fighting end,” she said, adding that the US had an advantage on the negotiating table and would use this.
This is the third time the president’s special envoy went to Russia to meet President Putin since Mr. Trump took office in January. After the second meeting, Mr. Witkoff has praised the Kremlin boss as a “great leader”, one of the signs that the echoing in Russia -US relations under Mr. Trump.
Mr. Witkoff (left) and President Putin shook hands before the meeting at Saint Petersburg, Russia, April 11. Image: AFP
Moscow on April 10 dropped Ksenia Karelina, the ballet dancer with two Russian -US nationality, in exchange for Arthur Petrov, a citizen of German -Russian nationality. The US and Russia delegation on April 10 also met in Istanbul, Türkiye, to talk about restoring the embassy’s activities.
However, the two sides have not yet achieved many progress related to the ceasefire in Ukraine, Mr. Trump’s top goal after taking office.
President Trump recently expressed “very angry” to his Russian counterpart, after the Kremlin boss criticized the righteousness of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and called for the United Nations to establish an interim government in Ukraine.