Steve Witkoff, the New York real estate developer who has become Roving Peace Envoy for President Donald Trump, is going to Russia this week for another round of conversations with civil servants in Moscow with a view to pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his years of war against Ukraine.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that Witkoff, who also has the task of serving as a mediator in the conflict of Israel-Hamas, would travel to Russia on Tuesday or Wednesday for meetings prior to Friday's deadline for Moscow to call off the war or prevent more American sanctions.
Asked what Putin could do to prevent hard fines, including secondary rates on goods from countries buy Russian oil, he told reporters: “Get a deal where people stop killing.”
But the president also expressed skepticism that new sanctions can harm the Russian economy, referring to the demonstrated capacity of Moscow to avoid them.
“Well, there will be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions. You know, they are cunning characters and they are pretty good at avoiding sanctions. So we will see what happens,” he said.
White House Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Russia this week for more conversations about Ukraine (AP)
Trump's Ukraine -envoy, retired army -general Keith Kellogg, is supposed to plan Kyiv that is planned for KYIV at the same time. Witkoff is in Moscow.
Witkoff has visited the Russian capital several times since he has handed over the Russian portfolio, and he has attracted attention in foreign policy circles for his nonchalant and reconciling attitude towards Putin and his government.
He openly spoke about his admiration for the Russian leader and once presented him a painting by Trump as a gift. Witkoff has also violated normal diplomatic protocols by arriving without an American translator, instead to rely on a Russian during meetings without other American witnesses.
Kremlin Pers Secretary Dimitri Peskov told Reportents on Monday that the Russian government “is always happy to see Mr. Witkoff in Moscow” and called the conversations with the real estate developer “important, substantive and very useful”.
He also suggested that Witkoff could meet Putin during his time in the Russian capital.
The visit of the Trump Witte Huis and the visit of the White House comes just a few days after Trump said that he was committed a few American “nuclear submarines” in response to combative statements on X by the former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev earlier last week.
On Friday, Trump wrote social and said that he ordered the American warships to 'the correct regions' because of what he called 'the very provocative statements by the former president of Russia' and noticed on the status of Medvedev as deputy chairman of the Russian National Security Council.
Trump said that the move was a precautionary measure “in case this foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”
“Words are very important and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those authorities,” he added.
The online feud between Trump and Medvedev comes as months of conversations in Turkey between Ukraine and Russia, have failed to achieve anything that goes beyond schemes for the exchange of prisoners of war and the bodies of the respective war deaths of each party.
Russia has continued to focus on Ukraine with nocturnal attacks by drones and other air weapons, with a civil death toll that Trump has rejected and led him to send more US weapons to Ukraine after months of the more isolationist members of his government.
During an appearance last week in addition to British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on the stairs of his Turnberry Golf Resort in Scotland, Trump complained that too often Putin had spoken a good match about wanting to achieve a ceasefiring -the bombing of civilian goals in short order.
“We thought we had arranged that many times. And then President Putin leaves and starts launching rockets in a city like Kyiv and kills many people in a nursing home or whatever. You have bodies that are on the street. And I say that is not the way to do it,” Trump said.
