U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff arrives in Moscow two days before Trump’s ceasefire deadline

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow, Interfax reported on August 6, citing a source with knowledge of the matter.

The source said Witkoff was met by Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and Putin’s special representative for economic cooperation with foreign countries.

This marks Witkoff’s fifth visit to Russia in 2025.

In late July, Trump gave Moscow a 10‑day deadline — expiring August 8 — to halt military operations in Ukraine. If Russia fails to comply, Trump has threatened to impose sanctions and introduce tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. He said he would decide on measures against Russia and its trading partners after Witkoff’s talks in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not directly responded to Trump’s ultimatum. On August 1, he said Russia supported a “lasting peace,” but that its war aims remained unchanged — in particular, that Kyiv should recognize as Russian the four Ukrainian regions Moscow annexed in 2022.

Sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Russia would be prepared to begin peace talks only after taking full control of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. According to Bloomberg, Moscow has indicated that, as a concession to Trump, it might agree to a ceasefire in the air but not on the ground.