US special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Russia for his meeting with President Vladimir Putin, where the two will discuss proposals on ending Russia’s years-long conflict with Ukraine.
The talks come one day after Witkoff’s meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo, which a US official described as “constructive”.
Kyiv previously accused the US of withholding key intelligence – a claim rejected as “scandalous” by Washington – but on Tuesday, Zelensky said that intelligence sharing with the US on Russian missile attacks “works now”.
Zelensky and his European allies said it was now up to Russia to respond to the proposals agreed in Oslo when Witkoff meets Putin in St Petersburg.
Witkoff was not present at the joint press conference after Tuesday’s talks in the Norwegian capital. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, another key envoy, took part in the meeting via video link.
A US official later described the talks as “very productive and constructive”, saying there was a “strong alignment at the working level” among the US, Ukraine and Europe on “the next steps”.
Putin is yet to publicly comment on the latest developments, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said the Kremlin would listen to what Wiktoff would offer, while ruling out “any political concessions”.
Relations between Ukraine and the US have soured in recent weeks to the extent that Trump has said it is time for Ukraine to get a new president, and most recently “for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine”.
