US media names possible date for US envoy meeting with Putin
A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, could happen on Friday, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed US official.
Earlier, Moscow confirmed that Witkoff would travel to Russia later this week.
Witkoff has visited Russia three times in recent months for multiple rounds of talks with senior Russian officials, including Putin, as part of peace efforts undertaken by Washington and Moscow to end the Ukraine conflict.
As part of a potential peace deal, Washington reportedly proposes to recognize Russia’s jurisdiction over Crimea and acknowledge Moscow’s control over four other former Ukrainian regions that voted to join Russia. The plan is also said to include the scheduled lifting of some sanctions against Russia and a denial to Ukraine's request to join NATO.
On Tuesday, Vladimir Zelensky rejected any discussion of recognizing Crimea as Russian, prompting Trump to warn on Wednesday that Zelensky risked losing his entire country if he continued to undermine the talks.
Witkoff, together with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, skipped a high-level meeting on Ukraine in London on Wednesday, following Zelensky's rebuttal of a key pillar in the US peace proposal.
The UK Foreign Office later confirmed to AFP that a meeting of foreign ministers from countries backing Kiev had been indefinitely postponed, adding that “official level talks” will continue but behind closed doors.
