Trump envoy meets Putin to seek ceasefire in Ukraine conflict

What do you need to know?

• Witkoff's meeting with Putin will take place on Friday, as confirmed by FlightRadar data and a source familiar with the trip.
• The aim of the talks is to achieve a 30-day ceasefire in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which is crucial for the Trump administration.
• Russia is setting new conditions, including the lifting of certain American sanctions, which complicates the negotiations.

What are Witkoff's goals for his visit to Russia?

Witkoff's talks with Putin are expected to be part of the Trump administration's efforts to negotiate a 30-day ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This is already Witkoff's third meeting with Putin, Axios reminds us, which reported on Trump's envoy's trip.

Despite Ukraine's agreement to Trump's proposal of an unconditional ceasefire, Russia has presented new demands, including the lifting of some US sanctions. Last week, Witkoff hosted Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Washington to break the negotiation deadlock.

If a ceasefire agreement is not reached by the end of the month, President Trump may decide to impose additional sanctions against Russia. He can do this through his executive powers or request Congress to pass new sanctions laws. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope that Russia would take the issue of peace seriously.

During a cabinet meeting on Thursday at 15:00 GMT, Trump said, "We hope that we are getting relatively close to getting a deal between Russia and Ukraine to stop the fighting."

As part of previous negotiations between Witkoff and Putin, the US and Russia completed a prisoner exchange agreement, which led to the release of Ksenia Karelina, a citizen of both the US and Russia. Trump expressed gratitude to Putin for this decision, emphasising that it resulted from a request from the UFC.

Furthermore, American and Russian diplomats met again on Thursday in Istanbul to discuss normalising relations between the countries.