The Biden administration views the visit of special envoy Donald Trump’s Steve Witkoff to Russia as an important step towards a ceasefire. This was stated by White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt during a briefing in Washington.
This is reported by Kyiv24
“I can confirm that Mr. Witkoff is in Russia for direct contacts with the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin. This is another step in the negotiation process aimed at achieving a ceasefire and a final peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine,” Levitt noted, without going into details.
Negotiations and Their Significance
The press secretary also emphasized that the U.S. president remains dissatisfied with both sides of the conflict and advocates for the swift conclusion of hostilities. “We believe we have leverage in these negotiations and plan to use it,” she added, noting that Donald Trump is determined to “see this through to the end.”
Putin’s Meeting with Witkoff
For his part, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff began at the Presidential Library in St. Petersburg. According to him, during the negotiations, the parties will discuss “various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement,” and the Kremlin hopes to convey “the main elements of Russia’s position and concerns” directly to President Trump. The meeting has already lasted more than two hours.
It was previously reported that the U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian presidential advisor Kirill Dmitriev before the negotiations with Putin.