Trump Envoy in Russia for High-level Talks

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has traveled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin.

If confirmed, the meeting would be the third since Trump initiated the normalization of relations with Moscow following his inauguration in January.

Last week, Witkoff was among several senior White House officials to host Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s aide for international economic cooperation, who traveled to Washington to continue the high-level discussions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later confirmed that Witkoff is in Russia, promising further updates on whether Putin intends to meet him.

According to services monitoring air traffic, a plane associated with Witkoff has traveled from Florida to St. Petersburg overnight.

Witkoff was previously credited for negotiating a prisoner exchange with Russia, which involved a personal meeting with Putin in February. The swap involved the return of Russian crypto entrepreneur Aleksandr Vinnik and Marc Fogel, a former employee of the US embassy in Russia and teacher at an Anglo-American school in Moscow, to their respective nations.

Witkoff was also part of the US delegation that took part in senior-level talks with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in March. The discussions, held in Riyadh, centered on the Ukraine conflict. Witkoff joined other top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, as the delegations explored potential pathways toward a ceasefire and broader peace negotiations.