US Special Mission Steve Witkov met Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday as Donald Trump urged the Russian president to “moves” in the Ukraine ceasefire.
This was the third meeting with Putin this year, during which the US failed to agree to Russia to a full ceasefire with Ukraine.
Trump has previously expressed his dissatisfaction with Putin about the state of talks. On Friday, he wrote on social media: [sic] Thousands of people die a week in a terrible, meaningless war. ”
The conference comes when the UK and Germany chair a gathering of Ukrainian allies in Brussels.
Before discussions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “there is no need to expect a breakthrough” as “the process of normalizing relationships is ongoing.”
Before speaking to Putin, Witkov first met Kiril Dmitriev at the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg, where conferences are being held in the Russian market.
Dmitriev, the 49-year-old director of the Russian sovereign wealth fund, visited Washington, DC last week and was Russia’s most senior official to go to the United States since the full-scale Ukraine invasion.
Earlier this week, Washington and Moscow proceeded with swaps of prisoners.
Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American, was sentenced to 12 years in Russia for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity when the war began in February 2022.
The Los Angeles resident was released Thursday morning and was traded for Arthur Petrov, a double German citizen of Russia who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023.
He was accused of illegally exporting microelectronics to Russia for manufacturers working with the military.
