Putin and White House Envoy Meet for Talks on Ukraine War
Vladimir Putin (L) and Steve Witkoff, Moscow, Russia, Aug. 6, 2025. X/ @rtenews
August 6, 2025 Hour: 8:52 am
Russia may be open to suspending aerial bombings but not its ground offensive in the Donbas region.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff held a nearly three-hour meeting at the Kremlin to discuss a possible resolution to the Ukrainian conflict.
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It marked the fifth meeting between Putin and Witkoff since the beginning of the year—the last one took place in April—with the Russian leader still refusing to agree to a cease-fire in Ukraine.
Television footage showed Putin and Witkoff shaking hands inside the Kremlin in the presence of Yuri Ushakov, the Russian presidential foreign policy adviser. In previous instances, the Kremlin later briefed the media on the outcome of the negotiations.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will impose sanctions on Russia and its trading partners if an agreement on the Ukraine war is not reached. On July 29, he shortened the deadline for such a deal from 50 days to 10.
“If the deadline comes and Russia has not agreed to a cease-fire, there will be sanctions. But (Moscow) seems pretty good at avoiding sanctions. They’re clever people and quite skilled at dodging them,” he stated.
International media outlets speculate that Moscow may be open to suspending aerial bombings but not its ground offensive in the Donbas region and along Ukraine’s northern border.
If an agreement acceptable to the White House is not reached, Trump could announce sanctions against Russia and impose secondary tariffs on importers of Russian oil—namely India and China.
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov criticized recent U.S. decisions to increase tariffs on India. “We believe sovereign countries must and do have the right to independently choose their trade and economic cooperation partners, as well as determine the forms of such cooperation that align with their own interests,” he said.
There have been numerous statements intended to coerce countries into severing trade ties with Russia, Peskov emphasized, calling such threats unlawful.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – Xinhua
