Witkoff meets Putin in Moscow
This was announced by Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, according to Ukrinform citing Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin is receiving President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin. This is their fourth personal meeting since February of this year,” the statement reads.
Peskov did not provide any further details about the meeting.
Witkoff arrived in Moscow earlier this morning. The White House had previously confirmed that he would travel to Russia this week, without specifying the exact date. Their previous meeting took place two weeks ago in St. Petersburg.
In an interview with U.S. broadcaster CBS News, excerpts of which were aired Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow is allegedly ready to reach a peace agreement, but some elements must be “fine tuned”. He did not clarify which elements he was referring to.
Moscow’s official position at this time is that Ukraine must relinquish its claim to annexed Crimea and four other regions, abandon its aspirations to join NATO, and make other concessions.
Meanwhile, several Western media outlets, citing sources, reported that Russia may be willing to soften its demands and, in particular, agree to a ceasefire along the current front line.
As reported by Ukrinform, on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that as a concession to move closer to peace in Ukraine, Russia has proposed stopping the war and not attempting to occupy the entire territory of Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the Trump administration has shown both Ukraine and Russia a path to peace and what the “finish line” should look like. Now, both sides must say “yes.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a briefing following his meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said that Ukraine is fulfilling all peace initiatives proposed by the U.S. that do not contradict Ukrainian laws and the Constitution. Specifically, this includes an agreement to a full ceasefire and the signing of a minerals deal with the U.S.
