Trump envoy Steve Witkoff meets with Putin in Russia
President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss a possible ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“This is another step in the negotiating process towards a ceasefire and an ultimate peace deal in Russia and Ukraine,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing Friday. “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.”
Citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency had reported earlier that a “Ukrainian settlement” would be discussed, as well as a potential future meeting between Mr. Trump and Putin. However, Peskov is quoted as having cautioned that no breakthroughs are expected to come from the meeting.
It is the third time Witkoff has visited Russia and met with Putin since Mr. Trump’s return to the White House.
Reuters 
Mr. Trump said Friday “Russia has to get moving” in a post on his social media site.
“Too many people ere [sic] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war,” he wrote.
Mr. Trump has been pushing for an end to the war ignited by Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has previously publicly criticized both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin.
The latest meeting between Witkoff and Putin comes a day after a dual U.S.-Russian national, Ksenia Karelina, who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in Russia, was exchanged in a prisoner swap for Arthur Petrov, who was accused of forming a global smuggling spy ring.