U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday, amid growing pressure from former President Donald Trump for a ceasefire in Ukraine. The Kremlin said the over four-hour meeting focused on resolving aspects of the ongoing conflict.
It marked Witkoff’s third meeting with Putin this year. Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described the talks as "productive," although Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that no major breakthroughs were expected, calling the discussions part of an ongoing normalization process.
The meeting came after Trump publicly urged Putin to act swiftly to end the war. Writing on social media, Trump said, "Russia has to get moving. Too many people are dying, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war."
Meanwhile, Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, rejected claims made in a report by *The Times* that he had proposed a division of Ukraine. The newspaper quoted Kellogg suggesting a "reassurance force" involving British and French troops in western Ukraine, while Russia’s army would remain in the east—drawing a comparison to the post-WWII division of Berlin.
Kellogg denied the implication of partitioning Ukraine, stating online that he had been misrepresented. "I was speaking of a post-ceasefire resiliency force in support of Ukraine's sovereignty. I was NOT referring to a partitioning of Ukraine," he said.
Neither the White House nor Ukrainian officials issued immediate responses to Kellogg’s clarification. The BBC has requested a comment from "The Times".
On the same day, European countries pledged €21 billion in new military aid to Ukraine. At a defence meeting, European leaders noted there were no signs that the war was approaching an end.
Prior to his talks with Putin, Witkoff also met Dmitriev at a St. Petersburg conference focusing on the stainless steel industry and the Russian market. Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, had recently visited Washington, becoming the most senior Russian official to do so since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, visiting the site of a deadly Russian missile strike in his hometown Kryvyi Rih on Friday, accused Moscow of extending the war with foreign fighters. Nineteen people, including nine children, were killed in the April 4 attack.
Zelensky alleged that several hundred Chinese nationals were fighting alongside Russian forces, following the reported capture of two Chinese citizens by Ukrainian forces. "Russia is clearly trying to prolong the war even by using Chinese lives," he said.
The Ukrainian president renewed calls for more air defence systems, stressing that Ukraine is not only asking for support but is also prepared to purchase the systems. "Only powerful weapons can truly be relied upon to protect life when you have a neighbour like Russia," he wrote on social media.
Trump, who has long claimed he could end the war within 24 hours, reiterated that the conflict would not have started if he had been in office at the time of Russia’s invasion. "A war that should have never happened, and wouldn't have happened, if I were President," he posted.
Tensions between Trump and Zelensky have reportedly escalated since Trump began his second term. A confrontation between the two was said to have taken place in the Oval Office in February.
Efforts by the U.S. to broker a limited ceasefire in the Black Sea stalled after Russia demanded the lifting of post-invasion sanctions. Trump has since expressed frustration with Putin over the slow progress, saying he is "very angry" and "pissed off."
This week, Washington and Moscow completed a rare prisoner exchange. Russian-American Ksenia Karelina, sentenced in Russia to 12 years for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity, was released in return for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen accused of illegally exporting microelectronics for Russian military use.