Washington (TDI):Â Speaking to reporters on Sunday, US President Trump said that United States Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Russia next week.Â
The visit comes after Trump’s threatened Russia with “very severe tariffs” if it fails to conclude a ceasefire deal quickly, after which he also order nuclear submarines to move closer to Russia – a move that heightened tensions.Â
Speaking of Witkoff’s visit, Trump could not specify the exact day but mentioned Wednesday or Thursday as the possible days of the envoy’s travel to Russia.
Elaborating on the purpose of the visit, Trump said he wants a “deal where people stop getting killed.” Ceasefire talks are not making any notable headway since Putin, in a phone call with Trump, told him that Russia will not give up the gains; referring to the territory it has taken control of.
Earlier, when Trump announced about the submarines, he also confirmed that Witkoff is currently trying to negotiate a ceasefire with Moscow and has shortened the timeline for diplomatic progress from 50 days to just 10, set to expire next week.
The ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have largely been led by the US, and Wikoff has directly met Putin multiple times as the talks seemed to be making a headway in recent past. Currently, these are mostly stalled.
Russia sees next week’s visit of the envoy as important. Â “We are always happy to see Mr. Witkoff in Moscow… We consider such contact important, substantial and helpful,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters (reported by France 24).
As of recent, Trump’s pressure and threats has barely changed Moscow’s stance, and Putin made it clear that his terms for a ceasefire remain “unchanged.”
Ukraine, on the other hand, deems Russian terms “unacceptable.” Russia wants to make the annexed Ukrainian territories a permanent part of it while Ukraine ideally hopes for a situation where pre-war territorial reality persists.
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