Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent talks with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff were "extremely useful," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on April 14, according to the Russian state-owned news agency TASS.
Witkoff and Putin concluded talks in St. Petersburg on April 11, with the Kremlin saying the meeting focused on "aspects of the Ukrainian settlement." It was Witkoff’s third in-person meeting with the Russian leader.
When asked about the possibility of a future meeting between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Peskov said that the matter was not discussed during Putin’s meeting with Witkoff last week.
Peskov emphasized that Russia and the United States remain at the very beginning of a path toward normalizing bilateral relations, which he said are being rebuilt from the ground up.
The talks come as Moscow continues to reject Trump’s calls for a full ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, a proposal Kyiv supported. Despite a partial truce on strikes against energy facilities and in the Black Sea agreed upon on March 25, Russia has continued attacking Ukrainian cities and has repeatedly violated the ceasefire.
According to Reuters, Witkoff told Trump that granting Russia "ownership" of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions – the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts – would be the quickest path to achieving a ceasefire.
The proposal reportedly followed a separate meeting Witkoff held with Russian Direct Investment Fund chief and Putin's negotiator Kirill Dmitriev in Washington earlier in April.
Witkoff has drawn criticism for echoing Kremlin narratives regarding Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory.
Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has adopted a more amicable stance toward Russia, resuming direct diplomatic contact with Moscow while signaling reduced commitment to Ukraine's security.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn
(Updated: )
