Russia hopes Putin and Witkoff will meet soon

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said work was actively under way to arrange a bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, as contacts between Moscow and Washington continue.

Operative Information Center-OMM reports that Peskov made the remarks at a briefing for journalists in Moscow.

The Kremlin spokesman said Moscow hoped a high-level meeting between representatives of the two countries would take place soon:

“We expect the meeting to take place in the near future. We anticipate that Steve Witkoff will brief President Putin in detail on the results of his contacts with Ukrainian and European partners, and that an intensive exchange of views will continue between Washington and Moscow on a number of strategic issues,” Peskov said.

Peskov said Russia highly valued the mediation efforts of the United States’ special negotiators and described direct contacts of this kind as necessary and productive. Further information on the meeting’s date and venue will be provided, he said.

Commenting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not an appropriate counterpart for concluding a peace agreement, Peskov restated Moscow’s main demand:

“The main issue for Russia is to negotiate with a legitimate representative of the authorities who is prepared to assume legal and political responsibility for ending military operations in Ukraine and to make decisive decisions,” he added.