Trump envoy Witkoff to meet Putin tonight amid Ukraine ceasefire push

Donald’s Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday night in Moscow as the White House pushes the Kremlin to accept a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.

“The meeting between Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin will take place in a closed format this evening,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said in response to a question from Russian state-owned news outlet Izvestia.

Talks have ramped up in recent days, as Trump’s team seeks to quell fighting in Ukraine, which Russia launched a full-scale invasion of in February 2022.

American negotiators met with Kyiv’s leadership in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, to hammer out a ceasefire proposal the Ukrainian side could live with.

The onus now shifts to Putin, ahead of the eagerly watched summit with Witkoff.

This story is being updated.