President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia later this week, the president told reporters on Sunday.
President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia later this week, the president told reporters on Sunday, in a bid to secure an elusive ceasefire deal «where people stop getting killed.»
Witkoff will travel to Moscow on either Wednesday or Thursday, Trump told reporters.
Witkoff heads to Russia amid building frustration in the White House, with six months of diplomacy under Trump having failed to achieve a peace deal — or even a ceasefire — to end Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, which began in February 2022.
Last month, Trump issued a 50-day ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin, threatening sanctions and tariffs — including secondary sanctions on top customers for Russian energy exports like China and India — if the Kremlin failed to agree to a ceasefire.
Last week, the president cut the window to 10 days, citing continued Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine. That 10-day deadline is set to expire on Friday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia will «not rule out the possibility» of Witkoff visiting Moscow later this week.
«We are always happy to see Mr. Witkoff in Moscow and are always happy to have contact», Peskov said. «We consider these contacts important, meaningful and very useful.
