US envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Putin on January 22
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff (photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, January 22, Alarabiya and Bloomberg report.
"Well, look, we have to go meet him (Putin, – ed.) on Thursday," Witkoff stressed.
He emphasized that it was the Russians who requested this meeting and noted that this is a "significant statement on their part."
"Everyone wants to get to a peace deal," Witkoff said, adding that he will travel to Moscow tomorrow together with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Russian media that Putin plans to meet with Witkoff tomorrow.
What preceded this
Last week, on January 16, Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is interested in a new visit by US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and is waiting for it. At that time, he noted that the visit date had not been set.
Peskov also said that establishing peace in Ukraine requires joint efforts on parallel tracks. In addition, according to him, ending the war is impossible without broad discussions on European security.
On January 14, it was reported that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner planned to visit Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Axios reported in early January that Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Kirill Dmitriev in Paris to discuss the US peace plan for Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope of receiving a response from Russia to the 20-point peace plan by the end of this month. Zelenskyy said he wants to receive it before he finalizes security guarantees and a reconstruction plan with US President Donald Trump.
