US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff shakes hands with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia, 11 April 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/ GAVRIIL GRIGOROV /SPUTNIK / KREMLIN
Steven Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, held talks with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday, as Washington continues its efforts to negotiate a ceasefire deal with Russia.
Witkoff, who has emerged as the Trump administration’s diplomatic point man amid the recent thaw in Russian-US relations, spent more than four hours speaking to Putin and Kremlin officials, according to Reuters. Friday’s meeting marked Witkoff’s third round of talks with Putin this year.
Prior to the discussion, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that “various aspects of the Ukraine settlement” would be discussed, including the potential for a future meeting between Donald Trump and Putin, though he stressed there was “no need to expect breakthroughs,” Russian news agency TASS reported Friday.
According to Reuters, Witkoff was seen on Friday leaving a hotel accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a key adviser to Vladimir Putin, who traveled to Washington last week for talks with the administration. Following the meeting, Dmitriev called the discussions “productive”.
From the US perspective, the meeting was “another step in the negotiating process towards a ceasefire”, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday, according to CBS News.
However, US frustration has grown in recent weeks as those negotiations have stalled. Posting on his Truth Social platform on Friday during Witkoff’s meeting with Putin, Trump urged Russia to “get moving” and voiced his frustration over the casualties resulting from the ongoing “terrible and senseless war”.
