Witkoff could meet with Putin soon – Kremlin
Moscow expects US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. US mediators held talks with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in the Norwegian capital, Oslo on Tuesday.
Russia highly appreciates US mediation efforts, Peskov said at a news briefing on Tuesday, adding that Moscow sees every meeting between Putin and Trump’s envoys as “very important and well-timed.” He did not provide any details about the date or place of a potential meeting, but said the Kremlin expects Witkoff to inform Moscow about the results of Tuesday’s talks with Zelensky and his European backers.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia is willing to discuss any economic and financial initiatives Washington puts forward, provided they are “advantageous to us.”
He stressed that Russia will not make one-sided political concessions, warning that any deals with the US might not last beyond Trump’s term in office.
“The history of the American presidency is notable for a well-established political tradition… whereby a new president is not bound by any decisions made by their predecessor,” Lavrov said, adding that this gives the US leverage in talks and that Moscow is well aware that Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, could try to “arrange something” with this in mind.
Russia should not expect “some political favor to carry us through all global affairs,” Lavrov said. “We must rely solely on ourselves.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who hosted the meeting between Zelensky and the US negotiators, said Witkoff will travel to St. Petersburg on Wednesday for a meeting with the Russian leadership.
According to Store, the list of proposals Trump’s special envoy could put forward might include a three-way summit between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky. Ukrainian media also reported that other potential proposals included an energy ceasefire.
Last week, the Financial Times reported that Washington proposed unfreezing billions of euros in Russian assets held in the EU to give impetus to Ukraine peace talks during negotiations in Miami with officials from Ukraine, France, Germany, Britain, the EU, and NATO. The idea was vehemently opposed by Kiev’s European backers, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Russia has said the stance of Kiev’s European backers is one of the main obstacles to settling the conflict. The EU is still clinging to the idea of “strategically defeating Russia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated last month.
Moscow has also rejected the idea of a temporary truce, insisting on a long-term peace deal that addresses the root causes of the conflict. With negotiations stalling and no breakthrough in sight, Ukraine has maintained its megaphone diplomacy, publicly calling for new negotiations and demanding an unconditional ceasefire.
The renewed diplomatic push follows a spat between Trump and Zelensky over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities. The US president has demanded that Kiev stop the attacks, blaming them for surging fuel prices globally and in the US. The dispute has since widened, with Zelensky accusing Washington of withholding intelligence on Russian missile attacks and restricting Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite network.
