US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he could meet with Vladimir Putin very soon, following what he described as highly productive talks in Moscow with his special envoy.
The potential summit was discussed during a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, along with several other key European allies. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian leadership for three hours, and the Kremlin described their constructive conversation as “quite useful.”
The discussions occurred as Trump’s deadline to impose new sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine was rapidly approaching, creating significant pressure for a resolution. Trump, who has voiced increasing frustration, had given Russia until Friday to make significant progress towards peace or face the new penalties.
The White House has not officially outlined what action it would take, but Trump said he plans to impose “a lot more secondary sanctions.” These sanctions would aim to stifle Russian exports but would unfortunately risk causing significant international disruption to the global economy.
Moscow has demanded Ukraine cede more territory and renounce US and EU support, while Kyiv is calling for an immediate and complete ceasefire. The Witkoff visit came amidst very high Moscow-Washington tensions, which were exacerbated by a recent online row over the movement of nuclear submarines.
Moscow has now ended a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear-capable intermediate-range missiles, citing similar alleged US deployments within striking distance of Russia. Russian shelling of a holiday camp in the southern Zaporizhzhia region on Wednesday killed at least two people and wounded twelve others, according to Ukrainian services.