{"id":5098,"date":"2025-04-25T18:05:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=5098"},"modified":"2025-04-25T18:05:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:05:08","slug":"trump-envoy-meets-putin-in-moscow-as-us-russia-edge-closer-on-ukraine-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=5098","title":{"rendered":"Trump envoy meets Putin in Moscow as US, Russia edge closer on Ukraine talks"},"content":{"rendered":"
In a significant diplomatic development, former US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Russian President Vladimir Putin for three hours in Moscow this week, as efforts to end the war in Ukraine appear to gain momentum.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin described the meeting as \u201cconstructive and very useful,\u201d indicating that Washington and Moscow are narrowing their differences not only on Ukraine, but on broader international issues. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, who was present during the talks, said both sides \u201cbrought their positions closer together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witkoff, now seen as a central figure in Washington\u2019s unofficial diplomatic outreach to Moscow, has met Putin three times in recent months, as Trump continues to push for a resolution to the conflict, now in its fourth year.<\/p>\n

Russian state media broadcast footage of Thursday\u2019s encounter, showing Putin and Witkoff exchanging pleasantries in English and shaking hands before entering closed-door discussions at the Kremlin.<\/p>\n

According to Ushakov, the meeting focused heavily on reviving direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine \u2014 a diplomatic track that has been stalled since the early weeks of the war following Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in February 2022.<\/p>\n

While the White House and Witkoff have not yet commented publicly on the outcome of the talks, the envoy\u2019s visit follows a week of tense discussions in Europe, where Ukrainian and EU officials reportedly expressed concerns about some elements of the US peace proposal.<\/p>\n

The proposed plan, reportedly backed by Trump, involves freezing the current front lines and recognizing Russia\u2019s control over Crimea \u2014 annexed in 2014 \u2014 in exchange for a ceasefire. Trump reiterated this position in a TIME magazine interview, saying, \u201cCrimea will stay with Russia. And Zelenskyy understands that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected any settlement that involves ceding territory, including Crimea. However, he has recently acknowledged that diplomatic efforts may be necessary to reclaim some regions, once a ceasefire is in place.<\/p>\n

Tensions escalated further on Thursday when Russian strikes on Kyiv killed 12 people. In response, Trump took to social media with a direct message to the Russian leader: \u201cVladimir, STOP! Let\u2019s get the Peace Deal DONE!\u201d<\/p>\n

While Moscow has expressed willingness to negotiate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told CBS News that several key issues still need to be addressed before any agreement can be finalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are still some specific points\u2026 which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this,\u201d Lavrov said.<\/p>\n

As diplomatic efforts unfold behind closed doors, the prospect of renewed dialogue between Ukraine and Russia \u2014 brokered or influenced by the Trump camp \u2014 could mark a turning point in a war that has become Europe\u2019s deadliest conflict since the Second World War.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a significant diplomatic development, former US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Russian President Vladimir Putin for three hours in Moscow this week, as efforts to end the war in Ukraine appear to gain momentum. The Kremlin described the meeting as \u201cconstructive and very useful,\u201d indicating that Washington and Moscow are narrowing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}