Kremlin says Putin, Vitkoff had “useful” talks as Trump sanctions deadline looms

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

US envoy Steve Vitkoff had “useful and constructive” talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, a Kremlin aide said, two days before a deadline set by President Donald Trump for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions.

Vitkoff met with Putin for about three hours in a last-ditch effort to find a solution to the three-and-a-half-year war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Yuri Ushakov, a Russian presidential aide for foreign affairs, said the two sides had exchanged “signals” on the Ukraine issue and discussed the possibility of developing strategic cooperation between Moscow and Washington, but he declined to provide further details until Vitkoff reports to Trump.

Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who had earlier met Vitkoff and walked with him in a park near the Kremlin, posted on social media: “Dialogue will prevail.”

The US side did not immediately respond.

Trump, increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress towards peace, has threatened to impose high tariffs on countries that buy Russian exports. He is putting particular pressure on India, which is one of the largest buyers of Russian oil along with China. The Kremlin says threats to punish countries that trade with Russia are illegal.

It was not clear what Russia could offer Vitkoff to avoid Trump’s threat.

Ushakov, who was present, told the Russian media outlet Zvezda: “We had a very useful and constructive conversation.”

He added: “On our side, especially on the Ukrainian issue, certain signals were conveyed. Corresponding signals were also received from President Trump.”

Bloomberg and independent Russian outlet The Bell report that the Kremlin could propose a moratorium on Russian and Ukrainian airstrikes — an idea that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko raised during a meeting with Putin last week.

Such a move, if agreed, would fall far short of the full and immediate ceasefire that Ukraine and the United States have been seeking for months. Still, it could bring some relief to both sides.

Since the two sides resumed direct peace talks in May, Russia has carried out the most intense airstrikes of the war, killing at least 72 people in the capital Kiev alone.

Trump last week called the attacks “disgusting.”