US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said he had “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working to secure peace in Ukraine and for which Russia is grateful [the president’s] critical leadership in the search for a sustainable and lasting peace’ Witkoff wrote on X.
At a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Witkoff said progress had been made and “a lot of good things were happening between the opposing parties discussing the land deal.”
“I think the people of Ukraine are now hopeful and expect that we will reach a peace agreement soon,” Witkoff added.
TRUMP SAYS Putin agreed to halt strikes in Kiev for a week amid brutal cold
According to Witkoff, the meetings took place in Florida on Saturday and were attended by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum. Witkoff and Kushner have been two of the Trump administration’s key players, not only in the Russia-Ukraine deal but in others as well, including the Israel-Gaza peace plan.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said he had “productive and constructive” meetings with Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida. (Noam Galai/Getty Images; Alexander Kazakov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Witkoff, Kushner and Gruenbaum also met with Putin in Moscow earlier this month, shortly after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. After the meeting in Moscow, Witkoff, Kushner, Gruenbaum and other US representatives met with negotiators from Ukraine and Russia. The talks were said to have been constructive, despite obstacles to peace remaining.
“A lot was discussed, and it is important that the talks were constructive,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on
The US, Ukraine and Russia held a trilateral meeting hosted by the United Arab Emirates. (Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters; Denis Balibouse/Reuters; Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
ZELENSKYY PRAISES ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ TRILATERAL TALKS BETWEEN US, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE IN ABU DHABI
Nearly four years after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, Ukrainians are facing a brutal winter and Russian attacks on Kiev’s energy resources have worsened conditions. However, President Donald Trump said at his Cabinet meeting on Thursday that Putin had agreed to a temporary pause in his attacks on Kiev and other places in the region affected by the frigid weather.
“And because of the cold, extreme cold – they have the same thing we have – I personally asked President Putin not to shoot at Kiev and the cities and towns for a week,” Trump said, adding that Putin had “agreed to do that.” The president classified the region’s weather as “record-breaking cold.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Trump had asked Putin to stop attacking Kiev until Feb. 1 “to create favorable conditions for negotiations,” The Associated Press reported. The newspaper noted that it was strange that the Kremlin spokesman mentioned February 1, as this would mean it was only a two-day break. Additionally, the AP reported that the forecast for cold weather will worsen after Sunday.
The White House announced Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters; Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Witkoff, Kushner and Gruenbaum met with Putin in Moscow earlier this month, shortly after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. After the meeting in Moscow, Witkoff, Kushner, Gruenbaum and other US representatives met with negotiators from Ukraine and Russia. The talks were said to have been constructive, despite obstacles to peace remaining.
“A lot has been discussed and it is important that the talks were constructive,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. wrote on X. “As a result of the meetings held these days, all parties agreed to report to their capitals on every aspect of the negotiations and to coordinate further steps with their leaders.”
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Russia and Ukraine will hold a new round of peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi on Sunday The Kiev Independent. However, it is unclear whether the US will participate in the talks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
