Steve Witkoff’s Meeting with Putin: Last-Ditch Effort to Avert U.S. Sanctions on Russia Amidst Ukraine Conflict

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow, following a request from the Kremlin for a last-ditch discussion aimed at avoiding new sanctions threatened by President Donald Trump. Sources familiar with the matter confirm that Witkoff arrived in Moscow this morning and was greeted at the airport by Russia’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

A handshake with Putin prior to their meeting was captured on video, later released by the Kremlin. However, it remains uncertain whether Putin can convince Witkoff, and subsequently Trump, to end Russia’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Trump has expressed skepticism regarding Putin’s willingness to halt the fighting and has indicated caution about being drawn into a situation of deception by a leader he now distrusts. Meanwhile, Putin continues to maintain ambitious goals for the conflict, including the capture of Ukrainian territories such as Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, and insisting on limits to Ukraine’s military size.

Trump announced yesterday that he would wait until Witkoff’s discussions conclude before deciding whether to impose the new sanctions. “We’ll see what happens,” he stated at the White House. “We’ll make that determination at that time.”

Upon arrival in Russia, Witkoff declined to share his expectations for the talks with Russian state media TASS. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed potential sanctions on Moscow with Trump yesterday, according to sources familiar with their conversation. In a social media post, Zelensky indicated that these sanctions could significantly impact Russia’s economy.

Zelensky also mentioned the increase of American weapons support for Ukraine, funded by NATO allies—a policy Trump approved last month. Trump has expressed growing frustration with Russia’s resistance to his peace efforts and has labeled the air attacks as “disgusting.” He has set a deadline of Friday for Russia to either agree to a peace deal or face new sanctions, including those targeting its economy and purchasers of its energy products.

Trump condensed his initial 50-day timeline after observing minimal progress from Russia. However, he has also expressed doubts about the effectiveness of these new sanctions following Moscow’s past success in evading western measures since the conflict began.

In a separate development, Trump announced last week that he was ordering the repositioning of two U.S. nuclear submarines as a precautionary measure—a response to inflammatory remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and current deputy chairman of its security council.

However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Medvedev was not a key player in the conflict and that his comments were unlikely to influence the situation significantly. Some European officials viewed Trump’s announcement as a means to emphasize U.S. nuclear capabilities ahead of Witkoff’s visit, sources told CNN. The exact status of the repositioned submarines remains unclear.

Trump has threatened two types of measures if Russia does not comply with his Friday deadline for peace. He has stated that he will apply new sanctions on Russian imports to the U.S., which would have limited impact given the near-cessation in trade between the two countries since the conflict began. Trump has also promised “secondary tariffs” on countries importing Russian energy, which could potentially isolate funding for Russia’s war effort by targeting China and India—its largest energy customers.

Trump stated that a significant drop in the price of Russian oil could force Putin to reconsider his actions. “Putin will stop killing people if you get energy down another $10 a barrel,” Trump said in a telephone interview on CNBC. Russia’s economy has shown signs of weakness, including rampant inflation and higher food costs due to the prolonged conflict.

Trump plans to apply a substantial tariff increase on India for its Russian energy purchases while simultaneously attempting to extract concessions from New Delhi on a trade deal. India argues that its Russian energy purchases have stabilized the global oil market.

The intention of new measures against China for its Russian energy purchases is less clear, as Trump continues to pursue a comprehensive trade agreement with Beijing. US officials have reported progress in recent talks with their Chinese counterparts, yet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned his Chinese counterparts during trade talks in Stockholm last month that they should be prepared for sanctions if they continue to buy Russian oil.

Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping are expected to meet in Beijing at the start of September during a commemoration ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. In recent months, Witkoff has taken a less active role in Ukraine war talks due to Russia’s refusal to make substantial moves toward resolving the conflict. During this period, Trump and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg maintained regular communications with the Ukrainians, with Kellogg visiting Kyiv last month.

Trump has shifted his stance on Ukraine, advocating for its ability to defend itself. However, as Witkoff prepares for his meeting with Putin, there is renewed focus on his role in the conflict. Concerns were raised earlier this year about Witkoff’s diplomatic inexperience, particularly after he attended multiple early meetings with Putin without a U.S. translator present.

Following his last meeting with Putin, Witkoff predicted that “the Russian leader sees the opportunity for the first time in decades” to realign the U.S.-Russia relationship—a prediction that has yet to materialize as the conflict continues and U.S.-Russia relations have not improved.