White House envoy Steve Witkoff landed in Russia on Wednesday for his fifth visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin as President Donald Trump looks to force a peace deal and bring an end to the three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.
Little seems to have been accomplished from the three-hour meeting in the way of securing a peace deal, or even circumventing the threatened sanctions by Trump that Putin now stares down, though according to Russian foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, the meeting was described as "useful and constructive."
Ushakov said Putin "received some signals from Trump" and "sent some signals," but he did not elaborate on any specifics.
WITKOFF SCRAMBLES FOR PEACE DEAL WITH RUSSIA AS SANCTIONS LOOM TARGETING INDIA, CHINA
The advisor also told reporters that Putin and Witkoff had discussed developing the "strategic partnership" between the U.S. and Russia but did not elaborate how. The comment came after Witkoff was spotted earlier in the day taking a walk near the Kremlin with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s envoy for investment and economic cooperation.
Witkoff and Putin met shortly before noon in Moscow, according to the timestamp released by the Kremlin which accompanied an image of Putin and Witkoff smiling and shaking hands as Russian foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov looked on.
Witkoff’s team did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions on what the envoy was hoping to accomplish in his meeting with Putin, though some reporting this week suggested he may look to secure a moratorium on air strikes.
Witkoff traveled to Moscow in a last-ditch effort to get Putin to capitulate to Trump’s and Western calls for an end to the war, though the Kremlin chief was not expected to make great concessions in ending his war ambitions ahead of the trip.
In mid-July, while seated next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump promised to enforce "very severe" tariffs on Russia if Putin does not enter into a deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy within 50 days.
"Tariffs at about 100%, you'd call them secondary tariffs," he had said, implying that nations who trade with Russia will see 100% tariffs slapped on them when trading with the U.S.
He then pushed the date up to within 10 days of July 29, forcing the new deadline for Friday.
But on Tuesday Trump walked back his 100% tariff threat amid tough trade talks with India and China, and said, "I never said a percentage."
"We'll see what happens over the next fairly short period of time," he added in response to questions from reporters. "We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We're going to see what happens.
"We'll make that determination at that time," he added.
The tariffs would most drastically target China and India, which are the largest purchasers of Russian oil, though high tariffs on those nations, both of which are major traders with the U.S., would also mean higher prices for the American consumer.
