US President Donald Trump said on Friday to Russia to “get moving” on ending its “senseless war” with Ukraine, moments before his envoy Steve Witkoff began talks with Putin on the conflict. According to AFP, Trump has been pressing Russia and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire ever since he returned to the White House in January. However, he has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin despite repeated negotiations between Russian and U.S. officials.
According to an AFP report, the U.S. leader told NBC News last month that he was “pissed off” with his Russian counterpart, while top U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio warned last week that Washington would not tolerate “endless negotiations” with Russia over the conflict.
The US President wrote on his Truth Social platform that Russia has to get moving, adding that the conflict that began three years ago when Moscow sent troops into Ukraine- was “senseless” and “should have never happened”.
Kremlin, shortly after the post of Trump, said that the talks between Putin and Witkoff had started. The meeting, taking place in Mr. Putin’s home city of Saint Petersburg, would touch on “various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, as quoted by AFP.
“There is no need to expect any breakthroughs here, the process of normalising relations is ongoing,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian state media.
On being asked if the two would discuss a possible meeting between Putin and Trump, Peskov was quoted as saying: “Maybe”.
Witkoff has also held two previous meetings with President Vladimir Putin in Russia since Trump returned to the White House. After the meeting, Witkoff said that Putin was a “great leader” and “not a bad guy”.
