Trump envoy Witkoff may meet Putin today - Axios
Photo: Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin (collage RBC-Ukraine)
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is in Russia. He could meet with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin on April 11, Axios reports.
According to a source familiar with the trip and FlightRadar data, US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff visited Russia and is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
According to the agency, Trump has been frustrated that the talks in recent weeks have not made significant progress, and at one point said he was "pissed off" by Putin's comments about Ukraine.
A source familiar with the situation told Axios that if a ceasefire is not reached by the end of the month, Trump could impose additional sanctions on Russia either through the executive branch or by asking Congress to pass new sanctions legislation.
Ukraine ceasefire talks
While Ukraine agreed to Trump's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and later plans for a smaller-scale ceasefire at sea, Russia has made many new demands, including the lifting of some US sanctions.
"We are making progress. We hope that we are getting relatively close to getting a deal between Russia and Ukraine to stop the fighting," Trump said during a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Witkoff and Dmitriev meet, Russia-US prisoner exchange
Last week, Witkoff hosted Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Washington, DC, as he sought to continue talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine.
On April 10, the US and Russia reached a prisoner exchange agreement that included the release of Ksenia Karelina, a dual US-Russian citizen. The negotiations for the deal were the result of a previous meeting between Witkoff and Putin in March.
