U.S. Envoy Is Expected to Visit Russia as Trump's Ukraine Deadline Nears

New York Times

2 days ago

Steve Witkoff, President Trump's envoy for peace missions, may travel to Russia this week as the United States continues to press the Kremlin to agree to a peace deal in Ukraine, Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Witkoff 'may be going to Russia' on Wednesday or Thursday, the president told reporters late Sunday. The visit would come as Mr. Trump's 10-day ultimatum nears for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to agree to a cease-fire in Ukraine or face U.S. sanctions.
Asked what Mr. Witkoff's message for Russia would be, Mr. Trump said: 'We've got to get to a deal where people stop getting killed.'
Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, told Russian news agencies on Monday that it would 'not rule out the possibility' of a meeting between Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Putin this week.
Frustrated by deadly Russian attacks in Ukraine and a lack of progress on talks, Mr. Trump said on July 28 that he would give Moscow 10 to 12 days to end the conflict or face a new round of financial penalties. Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to punish Russia over its escalating attacks in Ukraine but so far has not followed through.
Asked late Sunday what would happen if Russia does not agree to end the war by his deadline, Mr. Trump said: 'Well, there will be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions.'
Mr. Trump began his presidency with overtures to Mr. Putin, claiming that Ukraine had provoked Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 and that Moscow wanted the war to end.
Although he initially welcomed Washington's mediation efforts with Ukraine, Mr. Putin has been dragging his feet on a number of cease-fire offers. He has also suggested counterproposals or insisted that a simple cease-fire would not resolve the underlying causes of the conflict as Moscow sees them.
Mr. Putin has not directly responded to the White House's ultimatum, but has said that people who are disappointed with the lack of quick progress toward a peace deal have 'inflated expectations.'
Russian and Ukrainian officials last met briefly in Istanbul in July for talks aimed at ending their war, but made little headway.
The Kremlin is unlikely to halt hostilities immediately, observers say, as Russian troops are waging a summer offensive in Ukraine and have been making territorial gains. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been struggling with delays in arms shipments and insufficient combat troops.
In another sign of his frustrations with Russia, Mr. Trump said on Friday that he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be repositioned in response to social media threats from Dmitri Medvedev, Russia's former president. It was unclear whether any submarines had changed position.