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 still seems to be planning to continue his sanctions against Russia.
Witkoff and Putin spoke for about three hours on Wednesday about an end to 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 come to an end,” the American president writes on Truth Social.
But the deadline that Trump had imposed on Putin for an end to 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 this Friday, because he found it pointless to wait the full fifty days. “We just don’t see any progress,” the American president said.
“We will continue to work on an end to 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.
Zelensky sees more perspective for a ceasefire
This is also evident from plans of the White House to continue the sanctions against Russia. 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.
“The Russians would like to continue cooperation with the United States. But secondary sanctions are expected to be introduced on Friday,” White House officials say.
Trump also writes that he briefed his European allies after the conversation between Witkoff and Putin. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirms on X that he has spoken with his American counterpart.
According to Zelensky, Russia seems to be increasingly open to a ceasefire. “The continued pressure on the Kremlin seems to be working,” he writes.