U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on March 18 that diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Russia will take place on March 23 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The discussions, led by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will focus on key details regarding the ceasefire. Witkoff did not specify who the U.S. delegation would be meeting with, and it remains uncertain whether Ukraine will be included in the talks.
"Up until recently, we really didn't have consensus around these two aspects - the energy and infrastructure ceasefire and the Black Sea moratorium on firing - and today we got to that place, and I think it's a relatively short distance to a full ceasefire from there," Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, said on air.
"I think both of those are now agreed to by the Russians. I am certainly hopeful that the Ukrainians will agree to it."
Witkoff said that during his last meeting with Putin, they "made a lot of progress."
"It was a meeting that was- it could have been as long as four hours, but it was certainly at least three. We talked about a lot of specifics, and I point to the large gap that existed between Ukraine and Russia prior to the inauguration and where we are today. We have narrowed the issues between both of these parties, making a lot of progress, in my opinion, and I think that meeting underscores that," Witkoff told CBS News on March 16.
On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a 30-day halt on strikes against energy infrastructure during a call with Trump, according to a Kremlin readout issued on the same day.
The statement followed the 1.5-hour phone call between Putin and Trump, during which they discussed ending the war in Ukraine and the U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire to allow for further peace talks.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
"I would commend President Putin for all he did today on that call to move his country close to a final peace deal," Witkoff told Fox News' Sean Hannity. "And I would give all the credit to President Trump, his election, (and his) peace through strength (foreign policy), the perception that there are no alternatives, and the fact that a good peace and lasting peace are important for both sides."
"I can't overstate how compelling he was on this call; he's a natural-born leader, and he demonstrated that today."
The Kremlin said that "during the conversation, Donald Trump proposed a mutual refusal of the parties to the conflict to strike for 30 days on energy infrastructure facilities," and Vladimir Putin "responded positively to this initiative and immediately gave the appropriate command to the Russian military."
The Kremlin also said Putin "responded constructively to Donald Trump's idea of implementing a well-known initiative concerning the safety of navigation in the Black Sea."
"It was agreed to begin negotiations to further elaborate specific details of such an agreement," the statement added.
Oleg Sukhov
(Updated: )
