Yury Ushakov says Moscow had an exchange of “signals” with Trump via his envoy on Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin. © Gavriil Grigorov; RIA Novosti; POOL
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff exchanged “signals” on the Ukraine conflict, during their meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov has said.
Witkoff, who has traveled to Russia multiple times in his role as Donald Trump’s special envoy, arrived in the Russian capital on what the US president has described as a make-or-break diplomatic mission.
Following almost three hours of talks in the Kremlin, Ushakov told reporters that Putin and Witkoff had “a very useful and constructive conversation” and discussed several topics, including the Ukraine conflict, Russia-US relations, and prospects for strategic cooperation.
“Some signals were transmitted on the Ukrainian issue” by Putin and that “corresponding signals were also received from President Trump,” he said.
Ushakov refrained from disclosing further details, noting that Trump had not yet been informed about the results of the meeting.
“Let’s see when Witkoff can report on the conversation that took place today to Trump. After that, obviously, we will be able to supplement my comments with something more substantial,” he said.
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Witkoff’s visit comes as Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of swift results from his attempts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He has recently urged Moscow to reach an agreement with Kiev as soon as possible, warning that failure to do so could trigger secondary tariffs of up to 100% on Russia and its trading partners.
Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to a peace deal, but insists that any agreement must reflect the realities on the ground and address the root causes of the conflict. Russian officials have expressed appreciation for Trump’s efforts to mediate, while rejecting his latest threats, saying that the language of ultimatums is counterproductive.