Witkoff to visit Moscow on Sunday – US ambassador
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit Moscow on Sunday seeking a breakthrough in negotiations on the Ukraine conflict, according to US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker.
Trump has also announced that Witkoff will travel to Russia, although he gave no specific timeline. The special envoy has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on several occasions during past diplomatic efforts.
“I’m hoping he can have a breakthrough,” Whitaker said in an interview with US channel WHO 13 News, referring to Witkoff's upcoming visit.
Whitaker also said that the US plans to boost arms sales to NATO members “that are then going to be provided to Ukraine” in an attempt t leverage a breakthrough in the Moscow-Kiev peace talks.
“I’m hoping that by the United States leaning in, selling our weapons to our NATO allies, that that will lead the Russians back to the negotiating table and actually get to a ceasefire here,” he explained.
Earlier this week, Trump dramatically shortened his original 50-day window for Russia and Ukraine to reach a peace settlement to just ten days, warning that failure to do so would trigger sweeping penalties, potentially including 100% tariffs and secondary sanctions targeting Russia’s trade partners.
The acting US envoy to the UN, John Kelley, confirmed that Trump expects a ceasefire by August 8, as the president has increasingly expressed his frustration with Moscow’s position in recent weeks.
Putin has previously stressed that Moscow is ready for negotiations and has never rejected talks in principle. “Negotiations are always required and important, especially when they lead to peace,” the Russian leader said earlier this week. He added that successful prisoner swaps and repatriation of soldiers’ remains had made previous rounds of talks worthwhile.
Moscow perceives the Ukraine conflict as a Western proxy war against Russia, which the US and its allies allegedly decided to wage “to the last Ukrainian.”
The Kremlin says hostilities would end if Kiev accepted neutrality and reversed policies that Moscow believes discriminate against ethnic Russians.
