US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday to discuss a US plan to end the Ukraine war on terms that are very likely favourable to Russia: the reason behind Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's refusal to accept the Paris talks framework plan so far.
However, the three-hour-long meeting, preceded by numerous significant events on both sides of the border, only ended with vague remarks of it being “constructive and useful”, with both the US and Russia having “narrowed differences”.
So far, peace efforts stand on shaky ground, as the planned high-level talks between US, Ukraine, and Kyiv's European allies, scheduled for April 23 in London, were postponed after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the meeting.
Yet, Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have emerged as Trump's key tools in America's efforts to negotiate the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which the Trump administration seems eager to close and “move on”, on account of the conflict entering its fourth year since Russia's “special military operation” escalated tensions with Ukraine in 2022, and because he had promised to end the war on day one during his presidential campaign—a stance he has since termed an “exaggeration”, in an interview with TIME magazine.
“Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point, and you know, it gets, of course, by the fake news ... Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended.”
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The interview also saw the US President blaming Kyiv for starting the war, asserting that “Crimea will stay with Russia”—a reference to America's proposed framework at the Paris talks to end the conflict by freezing it in place, which would see Russia legally stake a claim to parts of Ukraine that they had illegally annexed over the years, such as Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia.
As per a Reuters report, other key clauses in the Russia-Ukraine framework—which was reworked after backlash from Ukraine and its European allies—are a permanent ceasefire with monitoring, Kyiv being barred from joining the NATO, a US-Ukraine minerals agreement, a “gradual” easing of sanctions on Russia, US (de jure) recognition of Crimea and the de facto recognition of Luhansk, as well as Russian-controlled areas in Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson. The document also promises “robust” security guarantees to Ukraine, offering it control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and assistance with postwar reconstruction.
The Putin-Witkoff meeting was also preceded by three events that set the tone for it. The first and second were Russian offensives on Thursday and Friday, respectively, while the third was an attack on a Russian official on Friday.
Thursday's attacks saw as many as 12 deaths and 90 injured in Ukraine, as per a New York Times report. According to Zelenskyy, nearly 70 missiles (including ballistic ones) and about 150 attack drones had targeted cities across the country—although Kyiv was hit the hardest. This large-scale attack prompted an uncommon rebuke from Trump on Truth Social.
A report from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi on the frontline situation as of April 24.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 24, 2025
Nearly 150 Russian attacks on our positions and over 4,500 instances of shelling, including with heavy weaponry.
The toughest situation was in the Pokrovsk direction. I am grateful to all our…
"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, Stop!" he said, addressing Putin by his first name.
On Friday, Russia also launched a drone attack on a southwestern city in Ukraine, killing three people and injuring 10, as per an Associated Press report. This was part of a larger attempt to fire 103 Shahed and decoy drones at five Ukrainian regions overnight, according to Ukraine’s air force.
However, on Friday, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik—the deputy head of the main operational department in the general staff of the Russian armed forces—was killed by a shrapnel bomb planted in his car at Balashikha, a few miles east of Moscow, as per a Guardian report, which also mentioned that Kyiv was blamed for it.
The scene of the car explosion at Balashikha | Reuters
Despite all these events taking place before the Putin-Witkoff meeting—that had been highly played up by Trump—nothing concrete emerged from it.
“The next few days are going to be very important. Meetings are taking place right now,” Trump had told reporters on Thursday. “I think we’re going to make a deal … I think we’re getting very close.”
Putin's senior aide Yuri Ushakov, who was also present for the meeting, onlly remarked later on that the discussions had been “constructive and quite useful”, noting that the two sides had “narrowed differences”: a statement with an intentional vagueness that might not bode well for Ukraine and its European allies. However, he also said to reporters later that there was now a possibility of resuming direct negotiations between the conflicted nations, which has not happened since 2022.
According to Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, Witkoff left the meeting with a message for Trump, but no public comment.
As such, it remains unclear whether Moscow, which has consistently proven their disregard for America's ceasefire proposal—despite the numerous concessions it offers the Kremlin—will finally agree to be bound by it, as the conflict rages on.
