US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that special envoy Steve Witkoff may travel to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday, the final days before his new deadline.
Trump told reporters before departing for Washington from Bedminster, New Jersey, that Witkoff “is focused right now on the border.”
“We’re talking about Gaza, getting people fed, and he may be going, I think next week, Wednesday or Thursday, may be going to Russia. They would like to see him. They’ve asked that he meet. So we’ll see what happens,” the US president added.
Trump also confirmed that he might impose sanctions on Russia on August 9 unless an agreement was reached on resolving the Ukraine crisis. “But they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions,” he noted. When asked if there was anything Russia could do to avoid sanctions, the US leader said that it would require “a deal where people stop getting killed.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already met Witkoff multiple times in Moscow, before Trump’s efforts to mend ties with the Kremlin faltered, reports news agencies.
Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said Friday that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his nearly three-and-a-half year invasion were “unchanged.” Those demands include that Ukraine abandon territory and end ambitions to join NATO.
On July 14, Trump set a 50-day deadline for an agreement on Ukraine, adding that if no deal was reached, he would impose 100% tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners, reports TASS.
On July 29, the US leader said he was reducing the deadline to 10 to 12 days.
According to Acting US Alternate Representative to the UN John Kelley, Trump expects Russia and Ukraine to achieve a peaceful solution by August 8. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 30 that the Russian economy continued to operate effectively despite Western sanctions.