The Kremlin has issued a vague statement following talks between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, days before Donald Trump’s deadline to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the two sides had exchanged “signals” as part of “constructive” talks in Moscow.
He also said Russia and the US had discussed the possibility of strategic cooperation – but refused to share more until Witkoff had briefed the US president.
The US envoy boarded a flight to the US on Wednesday afternoon, according to Russian media.
The talks appeared cordial despite Trump’s mounting irritation with the lack of progress in negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
In images shared by Russian outlets, Witkoff was seen walking around central Moscow with Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev on Wednesday morning.
Later, images showed Putin and Witkoff – who have met several times before – smiling and shaking hands in a gilded hall at the Kremlin.
There was no immediate comment from the US or Ukraine following the talks, which lasted over three hours.
The US president has said Russia could face hefty sanctions or see secondary sanctions imposed against all those who trade with it if it doesn’t take steps to end the “horrible war” with Ukraine.
Shortly after Witkoff’s departure from Moscow, the White House said Trump had signed an executive order imposing a 25 per cent tariff on India for buying Russian oil.
Earlier this week, the US president accused India of not caring “how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian war machine”.
Before Wednesday’s talks, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, warned that Russia would only make serious moves towards peace if it began to run out of money.
He welcomed the threat of tougher US sanctions and tariffs on nations buying Russian oil.
Expectations are muted for a settlement by Friday, and Russia has continued its large-scale air attacks on Ukraine despite Trump’s threats of sanctions.
Before taking office in January, Trump claimed he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in a day. He failed, and his rhetoric towards Russia has since hardened.
“We thought we had the war settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” he said last month.
Three rounds of talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul have failed to bring the war closer to an end, three-and-a-half years after Moscow launched its full-invasion.
Moscow’s military and political preconditions for peace remain unacceptable to Kyiv and to its Western partners. The Kremlin has also repeatedly turned down Kyiv’s requests for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
Meanwhile, the US administration approved $200m (£150m) of additional military sales to Ukraine on Tuesday following a phone call between Zelensky and Trump, in which the two leaders also discussed defence cooperation and drone production.
Ukraine has been using drones to hit Russia’s refineries and energy facilities, while Moscow has focused its air attacks on Ukraine’s cities. —BBC
