Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff ended today after more than four hours, Russian media reported, as reported by Reuters.
The Interfax news agency said that Vitkoff, US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy who has become increasingly involved in Russian affairs, left the venue of the talks, the presidential library in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city.
The Kremlin announced earlier today that Putin will discuss a solution to the war in Ukraine with Trump's envoy Vitkoff, who is visiting Russia, the Beta news agency reported.
"Putin will listen to him. The conversation will be about various aspects of the solution in Ukraine. There are many aspects, the topic is very complex," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Peskov said the Kremlin does not expect a diplomatic "breakthrough" during this conversation because "the process of normalizing relations and searching for a platform to move towards a solution (to the conflict in Ukraine) is underway," Peskov said.
"Hard work continues. Of course Vitkoff... will bring something from his president to Putin," Peskov added.
More than three years since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, which has killed tens of thousands of people, Trump has an ambition to end hostilities and in February ended the diplomatic isolation of Putin imposed on him by the West.
In St. Petersburg today, Vitkoff met with Kremlin economic negotiator Kirill Dmitriev, who was in Washington in early April, in the first visit by a senior Russian official since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
Witkoff, a close friend of Trump, is also involved in talks about the war in Ukraine. He is also Trump's envoy for the Middle East.
He is expected in Oman tomorrow for talks with Iran, a country close to Moscow with which Washington has not had diplomatic relations for 45 years. The goal of the talks is to reach a new agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue.
Witkoff's visit to Russia comes a day after a new prisoner exchange between the US and Russia and a series of talks on the functioning of their diplomatic missions, the second since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.
The US president wants to re-establish bilateral relations with Russia, while the West has largely kept its distance due to Russia's attack on Ukraine.
The US administration is organizing separate talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials and has so far failed to achieve a cessation of hostilities, so diplomatic talks are continuing.
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