U.S. Special Envoy Meets Putin as Trump Presses Russia to 'Accelerate' Ukraine Ceasefire Efforts

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff held a high-level meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday, as former President Donald Trump publicly pressed Moscow to accelerate efforts toward a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The Kremlin confirmed that the meeting between Witkoff and Putin lasted more than four hours and primarily focused on “aspects of a Ukrainian settlement.” This marked the third meeting between the two figures this year. According to special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who is close to the discussions, the talks were “productive.”

The diplomatic engagement comes amid growing pressure from Trump, who has been vocal about ending the war in Ukraine. Taking to social media on Friday, Trump expressed frustration with what he perceives as a lack of urgency from Moscow. “Russia has to get moving,” he wrote. “Too many people ere [sic] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war.”

Trump’s statement echoes his longstanding criticism of continued U.S. involvement in the conflict and his belief that a deal to end the fighting could be reached more quickly. He has positioned himself as a potential peace broker, suggesting that, if elected again, he could resolve the crisis swiftly through direct engagement with both Kyiv and Moscow.

At the same time, Trump’s Ukraine policy has drawn attention and controversy through statements made by his advisers. Recently, Keith Kellogg, a key Trump envoy on Ukraine matters and former national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, was quoted in media reports suggesting a controversial post-war arrangement. According to the report, Kellogg implied that Russia might retain its occupied territories in eastern Ukraine under a structure resembling the post-World War Two division of Berlin.

"You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War Two," Kellogg was quoted as saying, sparking concerns that Trump’s team may be considering a partition of Ukraine as part of a ceasefire proposal.

However, Kellogg quickly pushed back on the interpretation of his remarks. In a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, he stated that the article had “misrepresented” his views. “I was speaking of a post-ceasefire resiliency force in support of Ukraine's sovereignty,” he wrote, adding emphatically, “I was NOT referring to a partitioning of Ukraine.”

The controversial comments and subsequent clarification come at a time when the war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight. Russian and Ukrainian forces remain locked in a deadly conflict, with thousands of casualties reported each week. Meanwhile, efforts at peace remain stalled, with both sides maintaining hardline positions on territorial sovereignty and national security.

Neither the White House nor Ukrainian officials offered an immediate response to the latest developments involving Trump’s advisers or the meeting between Witkoff and Putin.

As diplomatic backchannels continue to operate quietly, it remains unclear whether Trump’s public pressure or the latest talks between Witkoff and Putin will lead to any meaningful breakthroughs in the near term.