(LONDON) — President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff was greeted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday ahead of expected talks, the Kremlin said in a short statement.
The meeting between Putin and Witkoff ended after around three hours, according to Russian state media.
Yuri Ushakov, a top aide to Putin, told reporters that the meeting was “a very useful and constructive conversation,” in comments reported by Russia’s Tass state news agency.
The two main topics discussed were “the Ukrainian crisis” and “the prospect of possible development of strategic cooperation between the United States and Russia,” Ushakov said.
“On our part, in particular on the Ukrainian issue, some signals were transmitted,” Ushakov said. “The corresponding signals were received from President Trump. Now the situation is such that our president has complete information — that is, our signals, the signals from President Trump — and the results of these conversations have not yet been reported to Trump.”
“Therefore, I would refrain from more detailed comments,” Ushakov said. “Let’s see when Witkoff will be able to report to Trump about the conversation that took place today. After that, obviously, we will be able to add my comments to something more substantial.”
Witkoff was met on his arrival in Moscow by Kirill Dmitriev — the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund — at the capital’s Vnukovo Airport, according to state media agencies Tass and Interfax.
The visit is Witkoff’s fifth to Moscow since Trump took office, with the special envoy at the forefront of White House efforts to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
A source familiar with Witkoff’s plans told ABC News on Tuesday that the special envoy was expected to hold meetings with Russian leadership on Wednesday.
Tass reported that Witkoff and Dmitriev walked in the Zaryadye Park in central Moscow before Witkoff’s convoy traveled to the Kremlin.
Witkoff was last in Moscow on Apr. 25, when he met with Russian Putin at the Kremlin.
Last month, Trump said he would impose additional economic measures — including secondary sanctions on Russian fossil fuel export customers, the largest of which are India and China — if Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire by Aug. 8.
Trump cited Russia’s continued drone and missile strikes on Ukraine when issuing his ultimatum to the Kremlin, which was initially set at 50 days but later shortened to only 10 days. In July, Russia set a new monthly record for long-range attacks on Ukraine, per data from the Ukrainian air force, firing 6,443 drones and missiles into the country.
Ukraine is backing the U.S. demand for an immediate ceasefire, after which negotiations as to a full peace deal can take place. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he “coordinated” positions with Trump in a phone conversation.
“Today, we coordinated our positions — Ukraine and the United States,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to X. “We exchanged assessments of the situation: The Russians have intensified the brutality of their attacks. President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities.”
On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was open to more meetings with Witkoff. “The dialogue continues and the United States continues its efforts to mediate in the search for a Ukrainian settlement,” he said, as quoted by Tass.
“These efforts are very important, including in the context of the ongoing process of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations,” Peskov said. “Work is continuing, and we remain committed to the idea that a political and diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian problem is, of course, our preferred option.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Shannon K. Kingston, Yuriy Zaliznyak and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
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