United States Envoy Steve Witkoff spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about a peace agreement in Ukraine.
Witkoff met with Putin for around three hours on Wednesday local time in hopes of a breakthrough in the three-and-a-half-year war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to U.S. President Donald Trump, the meeting had been “highly productive” and “great progress was made”.
“Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come,” he said on Truth Social.
Despite the successful talks with Putin, a White House official said that Washington is still planning to follow through with secondary sanctions on countries that import Russian oil, including adding 25% to Indian tariffs.
After a phone call with Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was “now more inclined to a ceasefire”.
"The pressure on them works. But the main thing is that they do not deceive us in the details — neither us nor the US," he said.
The Kremlin also said the talks were “useful and constructive”.
Following the meeting between Witkoff and Putin, Trump said that there was a “good chance” that there would be a meeting between him and the Russian President soon.
Sources close to the matter even told the New York Times and CNN that Trump could be sitting down with Putin as soon as next week, and then wanted a three-way meeting between himself, the Russian President and Zelenskyy.
The talks also came two days before a deadline the U.S. President set for Russia to reach a peace deal in the war or face fresh sanctions.
