Trump Envoy Witkoff Plans Second Meeting With Putin – Reports
U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week for the second time in two months, several Western media outlets reported.
Witkoff’s trip is allegedly timed to coincide with U.S.-Ukrainian talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.
Axios reported that the envoy plans to travel to Moscow on Thursday after the Jeddah meetings, though the visit could be subject to change depending on circumstances, including Putin’s schedule.
None of the new outlets reporting on Witkoff’s alleged trip to Moscow specified what the purpose of the visit would be.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday the public would be “informed in due course” about a possible visit by Witkoff.
In February, Fox News host Sean Hannity claimed Witkoff held a three-and-a-half-hour meeting with Putin on Feb. 11 while negotiating the release of imprisoned U.S. teacher Marc Fogel.
Witkoff later appeared to confirm that meeting, saying that he had “spent a lot of time with President Putin, talking, developing a friendship.”
Trump, who has sought to meet with Putin one-on-one as part of his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine, said Sunday that “big meetings” in Saudi Arabia would include Russia. However, the Kremlin said no meeting between Russian and U.S. officials was planned.
Witkoff was part of the delegation led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that met with top Russian diplomats last month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where both sides agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
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