US envoy to meet Putin after 'positive' talks with Zelenskyy

US envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg after 'positive' talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The full report

US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia on Wednesday morning for talks with President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine. Witkoff was greeted in St Petersburg by the Kremlin's advisor for international economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev.

The meeting comes a day after Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as 'positive.' Rubio said that Witkoff would now be able to share the ideas discussed with Zelenskyy with the Russian side and 'let's see if we can make some progress.'

US news outlet Axios reported that Witkoff would be presenting Putin with an updated peace proposal on ending the war in Ukraine. The trip by US President Donald Trump's special envoy is part of efforts to draw a line under a bitter feud between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and the US president over the war with Russia.

After talks with Witkoff in the Norwegian capital, Zelensky thanked Washington on Tuesday for the resumption of US intelligence on Russian strikes. The positive tone followed days of friction between Kyiv and Washington after Trump struck a diesel-supply deal with Putin and called for Zelensky to be replaced after Ukraine refused to stop hitting Russian oil refineries.

Witkoff's planned meeting with Putin on Wednesday would include Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner participating virtually, a US official told AFP. Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who will also take part in the meeting with Putin, was scheduled to meet Witkoff at the airport.