U.S.
unique envoy Steve Witkoff concluded his latest talks with Russias Vladimir Putin on Friday, after President Donald Trump prompted his Russian counterpart to move quicker to end what he said was the countrys ridiculous war with Ukraine.Witkoff met with Putin at the governmental library in St.
Petersburg, which specify news agencies said lasted four and a half hours.The Kremlin said afterward only that the meeting had occurred and focused on various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement, without elaborating.Spokesman Dmitry Peskov had previously stated he anticipated no diplomatic breakthroughs from the talks Witkoffs 3rd with Putin considering that February.He likewise said perhaps when asked about whether a possible meeting in between Putin and Trump would be discussed.After their last meeting, Witkoff a longtime Trump ally who dealt with the U.S.
president in realty said Putin was a excellent leader and not a bad guy.
The envoys praise of a president long seen by the United States as an autocratic adversary highlights the significant turn in Washingtons technique to dealings with the Kremlin since Trump took office for a second term.Earlier Friday, the state-run TASS news agencyreported that Witkoff held a meeting at the Grand Europe Hotel in St.
Petersburg with Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev, who also acts as Putins financial envoy.
It published a video of the 2 men leaving the hotel and entering into separate vehicles.Witkoff hosted Dmitriev in Washington recently, after which the Putin envoyexpressed careful optimism about restored U.S.-Russian diplomatic engagement.Witkoffs visit comes a day afterthe release of U.S.-Russian double national Ksenia Karelina in a detainee exchange with the U.S.
in Abu Dhabi.
Karelina was swappedwith Arthur Petrov, a German-Russian double national arrestedin Cyprus in 2023 at the request of U.S.
authorities for presumably exporting delicate U.S.-made microelectronics to Russia.In February, Witkoff was associated with settlements toreleaseMarc Fogel, an American teacher imprisoned in Russia on drug charges, in return for Russian cryptocurrency figure Alexander Vinnik.The Trump administration hailed the release of Fogel as a positive step for diplomacy.Witkoffs journey to St.
Petersburg also comes amid Trumps growing aggravation over stalled efforts to end the war in Ukraine.Both Ukraine and Russia have accused each otherof violating a time out in strikes versus energy infrastructure, further dimming wish for even a partial stop in attacks amidst the ongoing war.The collapse of that agreement, which the U.S.
brokered, might pushTrump to progress with brand-new sanctions on Russia either unilaterally or through Congress if no broad ceasefire is reached by the end of April, Axios pointed out an anonymous source knowledgeable about the problem as saying.On Thursday, Trump said were getting relatively near to achieving a ceasefire.AFP contributed reporting.