Putin, US envoy Witkoff hold meeting in St. Petersburg

ISTANBUL

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday held a meeting on Ukraine with US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg, which concluded after 4.5 hours, the Kremlin announced.

The meeting, described by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as “businesslike,” was attended by Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the president’s special representative for foreign investment.

Peskov told journalists that a telephone conversation between Putin and US President Donald Trump following the meeting is “theoretically possible.”

No further details were provided about the closed-door meeting.

Earlier in the day, Witkoff arrived in Russia and met with Dmitriev.

The White House confirmed Witkoff’s visit, saying he went to Russia “to have direct communications with the Kremlin and with Vladimir Putin,” calling it “another step in the negotiating process towards a ceasefire and an ultimate peace deal in Russia and Ukraine.”

“As these negotiations are ongoing, I obviously will not get ahead of the president, or his team, but I think the president has been quite clear that he’s been continually frustrated with both sides of this conflict, and he wants to see this fighting end, and he wants the war to end,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.

This marks Witkoff’s third trip to Russia, following his March 13 visit to Moscow where he held talks with senior Russian officials before meeting Putin.

At that time, Peskov said Witkoff delivered additional information on Ukraine and that Putin sent messages to Trump through the envoy, according to Russian state news agency RIA.