Photo: Alamy
High-stakes negotiations between the United States and Russia resumed Wednesday in Moscow, just days before President Donald Trump’s deadline for reaching a Ukraine peace agreement expires.
Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy for Middle East and Eurasian affairs, arrived in the Russian capital early Wednesday and met with President Vladimir Putin for in-person discussions at the Kremlin. Photographs showed Witkoff holding a notebook with the presidential seal as he shook hands with the Russian leader ahead of the closed-door talks.
The meeting marks the fifth time Witkoff and Putin have met since the beginning of the year, as part of Trump’s diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine. The last in-person meeting took place in April.
Earlier in the day, Witkoff also met with Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s top investment official and an unofficial liaison with the U.S. Dmitriev, who was educated in the United States, recently had his sanctions lifted to allow him to travel to Washington for high-level talks. He has frequently advocated for renewed U.S.-Russia business ties and often frames his remarks to appeal to American policymakers.
Despite multiple rounds of negotiations this year, progress toward a ceasefire has been elusive. While Moscow has made optimistic public statements, U.S. officials have expressed growing frustration over the lack of tangible results.
President Trump, once hopeful that diplomacy could deliver a breakthrough, has grown more forceful in recent weeks. He has publicly warned that if no peace deal is reached by Friday, Aug. 8, Russia will face sweeping secondary tariffs targeting its global trade partners.
“Very severe tariffs… doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100 percent,” Trump said last week. “That’s the way it is, couldn’t be more simple. I hope we don’t have to do it.”
The president has already repositioned two American nuclear submarines closer to Russia’s periphery as a signal of U.S. resolve, and has indicated that patience is running out.
“I’m very unhappy with Vladimir Putin,” Trump said during a press briefing last week. “He’s always ready to talk peace, but never ready to act.”
Though primary sanctions have had limited impact on Russia’s economy, the Trump administration is betting that secondary tariffs aimed at pressuring Russia’s trade allies will have far-reaching consequences. The latest round of talks is being seen as a final opportunity for Moscow to reach a negotiated settlement before economic and diplomatic pressure escalates significantly.