Witkoff arrives in Moscow for crucial talks with Putin; meeting will last as long as necessary

US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the aim of persuading the Russian leader to end the war in Ukraine. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the talks, which will take place in the Kremlin, will last „as long as necessary,“ without any time limit set by protocol.

The American delegation will consist solely of Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. Peskov confirmed that Washington is not sending anyone else except an interpreter. The main topic of the talks will be the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, particularly the proposals put forward by the United States.

However, Witkoff travelled to Moscow amid a media scandal after Bloomberg published a transcript of a telephone conversation in which he advised a senior Kremlin official on how to communicate with President Donald Trump. The controversy was further fuelled by the leak of information about the original 28-point peace plan, allegedly drafted by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Jared Kushner and Witkoff himself. The plan was sharply criticised by Ukraine and European allies as too accommodating to Russia.

Dmitriev described today as „an important day for peace“ on social media. Witkoff flew to Moscow directly after participating in US-Ukrainian talks in Florida.

Last week in Bishkek, the Russian president declared that the fighting would only end „when Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold.“ On Monday, before meeting with Witkoff, he visited the Russian General Staff, where, according to a published video, generals confirmed the capture of Pokrovsk and the continued advance of Russian forces in the region.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal quoted a French official who said that Russia and the United States would have „long ago agreed“ to end the conflict had it not been for European intervention. According to this source, Europe finds itself „alone“ because Washington is retreating from the region, forcing it to rely more on its own forces.

The leak of the peace plan and the published transcripts of conversations between Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov and Steve Witkoff gave the impression that the Trump administration is more interested in improving relations with Russia and economic cooperation than in defending the transatlantic alliance.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said last week that he sees no role for Europe at the negotiating table on Ukraine. He claimed that the European Union had done nothing to stop Petro Poroshenko's „punitive operation“ in Donbas and, on the contrary, had supported the continuation of the „civil war unleashed by the Nazi regime“.

gnews.cz - GH