Afət Ziyadqızı
High-level closed-door talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff have concluded in St. Petersburg.
Operative Information Center-OMM said, citing the Kremlin press service, that the meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace lasted about three hours.
Russian participants in the diplomatic consultations included presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, the special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
According to official sources, the sides held an extensive exchange of views on strategic issues concerning the global security architecture, including ways to move the Ukraine conflict out of its acute phase and resolve it through political and diplomatic means, prospects for future trade and economic cooperation between Moscow and Washington, and the escalating Iran crisis in the Middle East.
At the end of the meeting, the U.S. delegation’s motorcade left the grounds of the Konstantinovsky Palace. Experts have described the St. Petersburg meeting as an important diplomatic step toward restoring direct dialogue between Moscow and Washington.
