The American President Donald Trump has called the meeting between the American envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian President Vladimir Putin “very productive.” Yet, Trump seems to be planning to continue his sanctions against Russia. At the same time, a physical meeting with Putin seems imminent.
Witkoff and Putin spoke for about three hours on Wednesday about ending the war in Ukraine. The Russians called that conversation “useful and constructive.”
According to Trump, the meeting was “very productive.” “Everyone agrees that this war must end,” the American president writes on Truth Social.
But the deadline that Trump had imposed on Putin for ending the war does not seem to be met. In mid-July, Trump demanded that Putin reach an agreement within fifty days. Last week, he moved that deadline forward to next Friday because he found it pointless to wait the full fifty days. “We simply don’t see any progress,” said the American president.
“We will continue to work on ending this war in the coming days and weeks,” Trump writes on Truth Social on Wednesday evening. With that, the president already seems to be expressing the expectation that Putin will not meet his Friday deadline.
The White House says that Putin has expressed the desire to meet the American president. According to The New York Times, Trump is planning to personally meet with Putin next week. He wants to combine that with a visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
White House spokespersons said in response to reporting by The New York Times that no location has yet been determined for the meeting between Putin and Trump. “But the meeting could already take place next week.”
Zelensky sees more perspective for a cease-fire
The meeting does not change Trump’s plans for new sanctions. If there is no agreement on Friday, Trump wants to impose “secondary levies.” These are sanctions that not only affect Russia, but also countries that import sanctioned goods from Russia. Trump is talking about import duties of 100 percent here.
“The Russians would like to continue the cooperation with the United States. But the secondary sanctions are expected to be introduced on Friday,” say officials from the White House.
Trump also writes that he has briefed his European allies after the conversation between Witkoff and Putin. Zelensky confirms on X that he has called with his American counterpart.
According to Zelensky, Russia seems to be increasingly open to a cease-fire. “The continued pressure on the Kremlin seems to be working,” he writes.