MOSCOW
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday began a meeting about Ukraine with US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg, according to a statement from the Kremlin.
The meeting was also attended by Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the president’s special representative for foreign investment.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that the beginning of the meeting was “businesslike.”
Peskov also said a telephone conversation between Putin and Trump following the meeting is “theoretically possible.”
Earlier in the day, Witkoff arrived in Russia and met with Dmitriev.
The White House confirmed Witkoff’s visit, saying he went to Russia “to have direct communications with the Kremlin and with Vladimir Putin,” further describing his trip as “another step in the negotiating process towards a ceasefire and an ultimate peace deal in Russia and Ukraine.”
“As these negotiations are ongoing, I obviously will not get ahead of the president, or his team but I think the president has been quite clear that he’s been continually frustrated with both sides of this conflict, and he wants to see this fighting end, and he wants the war to end,” spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
This trip marks Witkoff’s third visit to Russia and the previous trip took place on March 13 in Moscow, where he met senior Russian officials before being received by Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that Witkoff delivered additional information on Ukraine during the March talks and that Putin conveyed messages to US President Donald Trump through the envoy, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
