U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, made “great progress” during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, raising hopes of a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote: “My Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Afterwards, I updated some of our European Allies. Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come.”
The meeting, which lasted around three hours, took place as part of a last-minute diplomatic mission aimed at finding a resolution to the war, which has dragged on for three and a half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
A White House official confirmed that the meeting went well and that Moscow has shown a willingness to continue contacts with the United States. However, the official also stated that the U.S. still plans to impose secondary sanctions on Russia this Friday.
“The Russians are open to further discussions with the U.S. Secondary sanctions are still scheduled for implementation on Friday,” the official said.
Photo Source: SPUTNIK POOL / Gavriil Grigorov / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL / Source: ANA-MPA, Translated by: Konstantinos Menyktas
