The meeting, held at the presidential library in St. Petersburg, lasted four and a half hours, according to Russian state media. The Kremlin released a brief statement afterward, confirming the talks had taken place and noting that they “focused on various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement,” without further detail.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had previously downplayed expectations, saying no major diplomatic “breakthroughs” were anticipated from this latest round of discussions — Witkoff’s third meeting with Putin since February. When asked whether a potential Trump-Putin summit was on the agenda, Peskov responded only with a noncommittal “maybe.”
Witkoff, a close Trump confidant and former real estate partner, has drawn attention for his warm remarks about Putin. After their previous meeting, he called the Russian leader a “great leader” and “not a bad guy,” signaling a sharp shift in tone from Washington’s previous stance toward the Kremlin, which has long viewed Putin as an autocratic adversary.
The meeting also reflects a broader change in U.S.-Russia relations under Trump’s second term, with an increased emphasis on personal diplomacy and backchannel negotiations.
Earlier in the day, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported that Witkoff met separately with Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Putin’s economic envoy. A video published by TASS showed the two men departing the Grand Europe Hotel in St. Petersburg and getting into separate vehicles.
Dmitriev had also traveled to Washington the previous week for talks with Witkoff. Following that visit, he expressed “cautious optimism” about the prospects for renewed diplomatic engagement between Washington and Moscow.
