Vitkoff stated that he will meet with Putin on Thursday to discuss peace.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said in Davos on 21 January that he plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, together with Jared Kushner. According to Witkoff, the parties intend to discuss peace agreements and the war between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reports.
Vitkoff told reporters that he hopes for progress because, in his words, peace is needed. When asked if there would be meetings with Ukrainian representatives, he replied in the affirmative and added that negotiations with the Ukrainians would take place later, but did not disclose any details.
The Russian state agency TASS, citing the Kremlin, reported that the meeting between Vitkoff and Putin is to take place in Moscow. Earlier, Vitkoff said in a comment to CNBC that the request for a meeting allegedly came from the Russian side and called it an important signal. At the same time, the Kremlin said last week that it was preparing to receive Vitkoff and Kushner for talks on Ukraine, but no specific dates were given at that time.
Prior to his current statements, Vitkoff held talks in Davos with Russian representative Kirill Dmitriev. According to Reuters, the meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Tuesday lasted about two hours.
Vitkoff also told CNBC that Putin is likely to join Trump's Board of Peace initiative and confirmed that an invitation had allegedly been sent to the Russian leader. Meanwhile, Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said last week that contacts with US officials to find a solution to the war, which has been going on for almost four years, would continue this week in Davos.
Source and photo: Reuters.