According to US President Donald Trump on August 3 (US time), Mr. Witkoff's trip is scheduled to take place on August 6-7. The trip comes as the deadline for new US sanctions against Russia is approaching, and tensions are escalating between the two countries.
Mr. Trump said that the main goal is to promote an agreement to end casualties in the conflict. When asked what Russia should do to avoid sanctions, Mr. Trump replied: "Let's make a deal so everyone stops killing."
Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin had met Witkoff many times in Moscow. However, efforts to heal relations between the White House and the Kremlin have stalled.
Mr. Putin affirmed that he wants peace but still maintains the demands for a peaceful end to the conflict, including Ukraine's abandonment of its ambition to join NATO and recognizing Russia's control over the four territories it has joined. Kiev considers these conditions unacceptable.
Trump also revealed that two US nuclear attack subscribers were deployed in the area after an online debate with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but did not specify whether they were nuclear-powered or nuclear-powered. The location of the deployment is still kept secret.
The US leader also warned that if Russia does not make progress towards ending the conflict, Washington could apply secondary tariffs to Russias remaining trading partners such as China and India.
Meanwhile, Ukraine announced that it had carried out a drone attack that caught fire at an oil refinery in Sochi (Russia). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the two sides are preparing to exchange prisoners, expected to bring 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers back after talks in Istanbul in July.
Mr Trump, who entered his second term with the hope that the conflict would soon end, has now increasingly expressed his disappointment with consecutive attacks.
