Putin and US special envoy Witkoff met in the Kremlin

The negotiations took place against the backdrop of the US President's recent ultimatum for Russia to conclude a truce with Ukraine by August 8

On Wednesday, August 6, the Kremlin hosted a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The negotiations lasted about three hours.

The negotiations took place against the backdrop of a recent ultimatum from US President Donald Trump, who demands that Russia conclude a truce with Ukraine by August 8.

The talks between Putin and Witkoff in Moscow were the fifth in the last six months. The parties did not disclose details immediately after the negotiations. Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met Witkoff at Vnukovo airport, wrote on social network X that “dialogue [between Russia and the United States] will triumph.”

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Discussion of the crisis and “signals” from Trump

Putin’s assistant Yuri Ushakov, speaking on the Zvezda TV channel, called the negotiations “very useful and constructive.” According to him, the war with Ukraine and the prospects for the development of strategic cooperation between the United States and Russia were discussed. “On our part, in particular, on the Ukrainian issue, some signals were transmitted. Corresponding signals were also received from President Trump,” Ushakov said.

Washington demands an unconditional ceasefire between the parties to the conflict. The President of Ukraine said back in May that Ukraine was ready for such a scenario.

The Kremlin insists on additional conditions, one of which is to stop arms supplies to Ukraine during a possible truce.

Trump, before Witkoff’s trip to Russia for negotiations, said that he would decide on sanctions against Moscow depending on the results of his special envoy’s meeting with the Russian president. “In the last five months I have stopped five wars. I would like this to be the sixth one,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

Trump's ultimatum

Trump previously expressed disappointment with the lack of progress in resolving the conflict in Ukraine. At first, the US President gave Russia 50 days to conclude an agreement, but then reduced the ultimatum to ten, which expires on August 8.

The US President has threatened new sanctions and tariffs against Russia and its partners if progress is not made. Shortly after the meeting between Putin and Witkoff, it became known about new 25 percent duties on India, which buys oil from Russia. Whether Trump's decision is related to the lack of progress in today's negotiations has not yet been reported.

The White House announced Trump's address on August 6, but did not disclose details. The Financial Times wrote that the American leader would be “furious” if Witkoff “returned with nothing.” Reuters called the envoy's trip a "last attempt" to find a compromise.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov noted that the Russian economy “has been operating under a huge number of restrictions for quite a long time” and has developed “a certain immunity.”

Photo: Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff, Moscow, August 6, 2025. Kremlin

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