Trump's envoy meets Putin ahead of Russia-Ukraine peace deadline, the
Kremlin says
[August 06, 2025]
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with U.S. President Donald
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin
said, days before the White House’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace
deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that
could also hit countries buying its oil.
The Kremlin did not immediately provide more details of the meeting.
Earlier, Witkoff took an early morning stroll through Zaryadye Park, a
stone's throw from the Kremlin, with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian
president's envoy for investment and economic cooperation, footage aired
by TASS showed.
Dmitriev played a key role in three rounds of direct talks between
delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in recent months, as
well as discussions between Russian and U.S. officials. The negotiations
made no progress on ending the three-year war following Russia's
invasion of its neighbor.
Trump’s deadline for Putin ends on Friday. Washington has threatened
“severe tariffs” and other economic penalties if the killing doesn’t
stop.
Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Putin over Russia’s
escalating strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine, intended to erode
morale and public appetite for the war. The intensified attacks have
occurred even as Trump has urged the Russian leader in recent months to
relent.
Overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, Russian forces hit a recreational
center in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, killing two people and
injuring 12, including two children, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said
Wednesday.
Russian forces launched at least four strikes on the area and initially
attacked with powerful glide bombs.
“There is zero military sense in this strike. Only cruelty to
intimidate,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on
Telegram.
Russia also struck the Ukrainian power grid and heating gas facilities,
Zelenskyy said, as Ukraine makes preparations for winter.
Western analysts and Ukrainian officials say Putin is stalling for time
and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian forces push to capture
more Ukraine land. A Russian offensive that started in the spring and is
expected to continue through the fall is advancing faster than last
year's push but is making only slow and costly gains and has been unable
to take any major cities.
The situation on the front line is critical for Ukrainian forces but
defenses are not about to collapse, analysts say.
On Tuesday, Trump said “we’ll see what happens” regarding his threat to
slap tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, which could increase
import taxes dramatically on China and India.
“We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow,” Trump said. “We’re going to
see what happens. We’ll make that determination at that time.”
The president said that he has not publicly committed to a specific
tariff rate.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. President Donald
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, right, shake hands during their
meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Gavriil
Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Stepping up diplomatic and economic pressure on the Kremlin risks
stoking international tensions amid worsening Russia-U.S. relations.
The Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis warned in
an assessment this week that there are “clear signs that the Kremlin
is preparing for a broader confrontation with NATO,” including a
military build-up along Russia’s western flank with alliance
countries in recent years.
Putin has strengthened Russia’s military ties with China, North
Korea and Iran. NATO, meanwhile, said Tuesday it has started
coordinating regular deliveries of large Western weapons packages to
Ukraine. European allies and Canada are buying most of the equipment
they plan to transport from the United States. The Trump
administration is not donating any arms to Ukraine.
Putin has given no hint that he might be ready to make concessions.
Instead, the Russian leader and senior Kremlin officials have talked
up the country’s military strength.
Putin announced last week that Russia’s new hypersonic missile,
which he says cannot be intercepted by current NATO air defense
systems, has entered service.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, meantime, warned that the
Ukraine war could bring Russia and the U.S. into armed conflict.
Trump responded to that by ordering the repositioning of two U.S.
nuclear submarines.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday welcomed Witkoff's visit.
“We consider (talks with Witkoff) important, substantive and very
useful," he said.
Trump initially gave Moscow a 50-day deadline, but later moved up
his ultimatum as the Kremlin continued to bomb Ukrainian cities.
However, Trump himself doubted their effectiveness, saying Sunday
that Russia has proven to be “pretty good at avoiding sanctions.”
“They’re wily characters,” he said of the Russians.
The Kremlin has insisted that international sanctions imposed since
its February 2022 invasion of its neighbor have had a limited
impact.
Ukraine maintains the sanctions are taking their toll on Moscow’s
war machine and wants Western allies to ramp them up.
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