Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

Trump reveals when Witkoff will head to Moscow


(MENAFN) U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Moscow “next week,” with the visit now expected to take place on Wednesday or Thursday. The rescheduled trip comes just days before Trump’s 10-day deadline for Russia to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine expires on August 8.

The trip had previously been slated for the past weekend but was delayed. Trump did not provide reasons for the postponement or a detailed itinerary but emphasized that the mission remains focused on negotiating a ceasefire.

“Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed,” Trump told reporters, when asked what message Witkoff would bring to Russian officials and whether Moscow could still avoid looming U.S. penalties.

He acknowledged that while sanctions were likely, Russia has demonstrated an ability to sidestep such measures:

“They are wily characters, and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions.”

Trump also claimed that Moscow had “asked” for the envoy’s visit, though the Kremlin has not publicly confirmed this.

The announcement follows Trump’s sharp reduction of his original 50-day peace window to just ten days. If no agreement is reached by August 8, Trump warned that Russia would face aggressive punitive measures, including 100% tariffs and “secondary sanctions” on trade partners like China and India.

It remains unclear whether Witkoff will meet directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the two have met in Moscow on prior occasions, concrete diplomatic breakthroughs have so far proven elusive.

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