Putin, right, greets Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin
No agreement on a meeting was immediately announced.
Witkoff presented documents outlining possible ways to settle the Ukraine conflict, according to Russian news agency Interfax. “Discussions covered key elements of a comprehensive peace framework, including long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic and prosperity plan, and a broader European security architecture designed to create lasting stability,” the official said. Putin proposed meeting Trump in China, according to Russian state television, as quoted by Reuters.
The meeting came a day after Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway, where the two sides discussed a possible peace framework. The US envoy arrived in Russia with fresh proposals aimed at bringing Moscow and Kyiv back to the negotiating table. The discussions covered several issues beyond Ukraine, including the release of an American prisoner, renewed US-Russia economic cooperation, Russian diesel exports and the possibility of a meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump in China. He also urged Putin to consider resuming trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States to address technical issues surrounding a potential peace agreement.
The Kremlin had previously raised the possibility of trilateral talks involving Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China next month. Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg on Wednesday, as Washington intensified efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the nearly five-year-long war in Ukraine.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the initial shipment would carry 40,000 metric tons of diesel, with further supplies expected.
Ahead of the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Moscow would not make “political concessions” and said Russia did “not expect a miracle” from Witkoff’s visit.