St PETERSBURG, Russia – US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday, continuing high-stakes diplomatic efforts as President Donald Trump urged Russia to “get moving” on a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The Kremlin confirmed that the four-hour-long meeting centered on “aspects of a Ukrainian settlement,” marking Witkoff’s third meeting with Putin this year.
Special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described the discussions as “productive.”
Trump, meanwhile, expressed his frustration with Putin’s lack of progress on the diplomatic front.
On social media, he called for urgency, writing, “Russia has to get moving. Too many people are dying, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war.”
This comes as Trump continues to press for a quicker resolution to the ongoing conflict, which has resulted in immense human suffering and geopolitical tensions.
The meeting between Witkoff and Putin comes amidst a broader diplomatic context, including US envoy Keith Kellogg’s recent comments on the potential for partitioning Ukraine, which were swiftly denied.
Kellogg clarified that he had never suggested such an arrangement and had been speaking about a “post-ceasefire resiliency force” to support Ukraine’s sovereignty, not a division of the country.
The White House and Kyiv have yet to respond to these remarks.
European nations also ramped up their support for Ukraine, with defense ministers agreeing on a €21bn ($24bn) military aid package.
However, despite these efforts, there are no signs of an immediate end to the war.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov downplayed expectations, stating that “there is no need to expect breakthroughs” in the talks and that the normalization of relations remains a long-term process.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia for prolonging the conflict during a visit to his hometown of Kryvyi Rih, where a Russian missile attack on April 4 killed 19 people, including nine children.
Zelensky also made a startling allegation, claiming that hundreds of Chinese nationals were fighting with the Russian army.
He warned that Russia’s efforts to extend the war, even by using foreign fighters, would only lead to more unnecessary deaths.
On the US front, Trump reiterated his belief that the war would never have happened if he had been in office when Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.
Trump has previously claimed he could end the war within 24 hours if given the opportunity.
His administration, however, has faced criticism for a lack of tangible progress in facilitating a ceasefire, and relations with Ukraine have been tense at times.
The diplomatic efforts also reflect a broader US-Russia rift, with Russian officials making it clear that there is still “total distrust” between the two nations.
Despite ongoing talks, Russia’s Ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, stated that it would take time to resolve disagreements between Washington and Moscow.
In a related development, the US and Russia conducted a prisoner swap this week, which saw Russian-American Ksenia Karelina freed from a Russian prison in exchange for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen accused of illegal exports to Russian military manufacturers.
