White House envoy Steve Witkov was in Russia on Friday, where he was able to meet with the Russian president of Ukraine and the Russian president.
“This is another step in the negotiation process towards a ceasefire,” White House press director Karoline Leavitt said of the meeting. “I think the President was very clear that he was constantly irritated on both sides of this conflict. He wants to see this fight and he wants to end the war.”
Russian media will broadcast images of Putin and Witkov’s conference at the Presidential Library in St. Petersburg.
Leavitt said the US is “leveraging” Ukraine and Russia and putting pressure on them to agree to peace.
Trump envoys don’t want Putin to take over Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin will shake hands with President Donald Trump’s special mission, Steve Witkov, during a meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool)
“We believe we have leverage in negotiating transactions…and we’re going to use that leverage, and the president is determined to see this through this,” Leavitt said.
Trump has called for both parties to agree to an immediate 30-day ceasefire while they have a longer peace deal. Ukraine agreed, but Russia did not. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Ukraine had discovered two Chinese men fighting on behalf of Russia’s borders.
Zelensky said at least 155 Chinese were fighting for Russia as Putin accused him of “extending the war.” The claim the Kremlin denied on Thursday said China had a “balanced position” in the war and “Zelensky is wrong.” Fox News Digital has contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for further comment.
Prior to Witkov’s meeting with Russian officials, Trump put pressure on Putin and wrote to the true society.
Trump said on March 31 that he was “offended” with the Russian leader and threatened to carry “secondary tariffs” on Russian oil exports. That means they are equipped with countries that buy Russian oil and destroy the “shadow fleet” of tankers carrying oil around the world.
Trump has previously aired complaints about Zelensky, calling him a “no-election dictator.” Last month’s public White House meeting exploded in a match that was close to a shot where Zelensky suddenly left the facility.
Russian-American ballerina xenia Karelina has a message to Trump after being released from Russia
Witkov speaks to Kiril Dmitriev, the director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund in St. Petersburg and the special envoy of Russia’s special president with foreign countries. (sputnik/vyacheslav prokofyev/Pool via Reuters)
Ukraine agreed to both an unconditional ceasefire and a more customized maritime ceasefire, but Russia made new demands, including lifting some sanctions.
“We are making progress and hopefully we are relatively close to getting a contract to stop the fight between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The US and Russia carried out a prisoner exchange contract on Friday in which ballerina and US citizen Xenia Karelina returned to the United States. Karelina was sentenced to 12 years at the start of the 2022 war for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity.
On Thursday, US and Russian officials met in Istanbul to discuss reopening projects at each other’s embassies.
The St. Petersburg Conference was this year’s third meeting with Putin. (via Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool Reuters)
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The St. Petersburg gathering is this year’s third meeting with Putin. Over the weekend he heads to Oman and negotiates with Iran for nuclear negotiations.
Prior to Friday’s meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “we don’t need to expect a breakthrough,” and that “the process is currently underway to normalize relationships.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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