Steve Witkoff is reportedly planning to meet President Vladimir Putin while US officials negotiate with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is set to travel to Moscow this week for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, multiple media outlets including Reuters and Bloomberg have reported.
Neither US nor Russian officials have publicly confirmed the trip so far.
The scheduled visit is reportedly part of the White House’s ongoing efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict. Witkoff previously met Putin in Moscow in February, in what he called a “trust-building” exercise which led to the release of US citizen Marc Fogel by Moscow in exchange for Russian national Aleksandr Vinnik.
According to Axios journalist Barak Ravid, Witkoff is expected to arrive in Moscow on March 13. A potential meeting with Putin in Moscow is scheduled for Thursday, Ravid wrote on X on Tuesday, which would follow on the heels of US Senators Rubio and Waltz meeting Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The Saudi talks will assess Ukraine’s willingness to make “material concessions” to Russia for a ceasefire, Reuters reports, citing US officials. It comes as Trump has increased pressure on Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to negotiate peace with Moscow.
Witkoff has been actively engaged in efforts to address the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Last month, he participated in US-Russia negotiations held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, alongside Rubio and Waltz in the first high-level bilateral meetings since former President Joe Biden’s administration froze relations with Moscow in 2022.
Kiev plans to propose an air and naval truce on Tuesday, a Ukrainian official told AFP. Russia has dismissed temporary ceasefires as a tactic to delay Ukraine’s defeat.
Zelensky is not scheduled to participate directly in the upcoming talks between US and Ukrainian officials. He met with with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday.
Trump, who has pushed to improve relations with Moscow since taking office in January, signaled on Sunday that “big meetings” were planned involving both Russia and Ukraine. Trump’s approach marks a shift from the former President Joe Biden administration’s policies, which maintained a more confrontational stance toward the Kremlin.
