United States President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to discuss the US’s 30-day ceasefire proposal to end the Ukraine war.
After Putin’s meeting with Witkoff, the Kremlin said that there are grounds for “cautious optimism”.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson said that Putin stands in "solidarity" with Trump's position on a ceasefire with Ukraine. However, there is a lot ahead to be done, he added.
🇷🇺 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐄 🇷🇺
— Beau Gosse Prétentieux_Backup (@BoGossPrebackup) March 14, 2025
Steve Witkoff, l'envoyé spécial de Trump, a quitté la Russie ce soir et a atterri à Bakou, en Azerbaïdjan, après avoir rencontré Poutine au Kremlin. pic.twitter.com/pm8A2YL8Nz
“Of course, there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic," Peskov told reporters.
Putin is also set to talk to Trump regarding the ceasefire deal. Peskov said that “after Witkoff conveys all the information received in Moscow to the attention of his head of state, then we will determine the timing of the conversation.”
Right now, we have all heard from Russia Putin’s highly predictable and manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire on the front lines—at this moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 13, 2025
Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants… pic.twitter.com/SWbYwMGA46
Putin has expressed his dissatisfaction with the US’s 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine's ongoing war. Russia had stressed that the Kremlin was interested in finding a permanent solution to ending the war.
Meanwhile, US intelligence reports suggest that Putin wants “total domination of Ukraine.” Irrespective of Putin's claim that he wants to end the Ukraine war, experts believe that Putin will stick to his goal of dominating the country.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed that Putin is preparing to reject a ceasefire deal by setting conditions to derail the truce. “Russia is seeking to prolong the war,” he had said.
“He is in fact preparing a rejection at present because Putin is of course scared to tell President Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians,” Zelensky said.
“That’s why in Moscow they are imposing upon the idea of a ceasefire these conditions so that nothing happens at all, or so that it cannot happen for as long as possible.”
Also, the US has threatened to put economic pressure on Russia if it rejects a ceasefire in Ukraine. "I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia," said Trump.
Among recent sanctions imposed on Russia include price ceilings on Russian-produced energy. The Trump administration has toughened sanctions on Russian oil, gas, and banks by enforcing more restrictions on their access to US payment systems.
Amid peace deal talks, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman talked to Putin over the phone and reaffirmed his "commitment to facilitating dialogue and supporting all initiatives aimed at achieving a political resolution."
While responding to Saudi’s gesture, the Kremlin statement said that Putin "noted the importance of resolving the Ukrainian crisis and expressed readiness to continue to contribute in every possible way to the normalisation of Russian-American relations.”
