Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, days before the White House’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil.
The Kremlin did not immediately provide more details of the meeting. Earlier, Witkoff took an early morning stroll through Zaryadye Park, a stone’s throw from the Kremlin, with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s envoy for investment and economic cooperation, footage aired by TASS showed.
Dmitriev played a key role in three rounds of direct talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in recent months, as well as discussions between Russian and U.S. officials. The negotiations made no progress on ending the three-year war following Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
Trump’s deadline for Putin ends on Friday. Washington has threatened “severe tariffs” and other economic penalties if the killing doesn’t stop.
Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Putin over Russia’s escalating strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine, intended to erode morale and public appetite for the war. The intensified attacks have occurred even as Trump has urged the Russian leader in recent months to relent.
Overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, Russian forces hit a recreational center in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, killing two people and injuring 12, including two children, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said Wednesday.
Russian forces launched at least four strikes on the area and initially attacked with powerful glide bombs.
“There is zero military sense in this strike. Only cruelty to intimidate,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.
Russia also struck the Ukrainian power grid and heating gas facilities, Zelenskyy said, as Ukraine makes preparations for winter. Western analysts and Ukrainian officials say Putin is stalling for time and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian forces push to capture more Ukraine land. A Russian offensive that started in the spring and is expected to continue through the fall is advancing faster than last year’s push but is making only slow and costly gains and has been unable to take any major cities.
The situation on the front line is critical for Ukrainian forces but defenses are not about to collapse, analysts say.
On Tuesday, Trump said “we’ll see what happens” regarding his threat to slap tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, which could increase import taxes dramatically on China and India.
“We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow,” Trump said. “We’re going to see what happens. We’ll make that determination at that time.” The president said that he has not publicly committed to a specific tariff rate.
Stepping up diplomatic and economic pressure on the Kremlin risks stoking international tensions amid worsening Russia-U.S. relations.
The Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis warned in an assessment this week that there are “clear signs that the Kremlin is preparing for a broader confrontation with NATO,” including a military build-up along Russia’s western flank with alliance countries in recent years.
