The Kremlin has said it does not consider the United States envoy for the Middle East, who arrived in Moscow on Thursday, to be a mediator for the war in Ukraine.
Steve Witkoff landed in the Russian capital after flying in from Qatar, where he had been involved in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas.
President Donald Trump said U.S. representatives would go to Russia to discuss a proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine agreed this week, which Washington hoped would get a positive response from Moscow.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s aide, Yuri Ushakov, told Russian media that Moscow did not consider Witkoff Washington’s go-between for war discussions.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.
Why It Matters
Following talks in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Ukraine agreed on a 30-day ceasefire plan, during which the Trump administration is talking to Russia.
Trump has warned that Putin would agree to the truce or face financial sanctions, but there is doubt over whether Moscow will accept such a deal. Other comments by Ushakov appear to have thrown cold water over the prospect.
What To Know
Flight trackers and state media showed the arrival of Witkoff’s Gulfstream G650ER aircraft at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow around 12:30 p.m. local time Thursday. Bloomberg reported that Witkoff would meet with Putin, and the Kremlin confirmed that a U.S. negotiating team was scheduled to meet with a Russian one.
However, Uskakov told the military channel Zvezda that the U.S. had identified a mediator in negotiations with Russia, “and this is not Steve Witkoff.” It is unclear whether the comments were intended to dismiss Witkoff’s authority and did not specify to whom Moscow would listen.
However, there are questions over Trump’s role in talks with his envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. Politico reported that the White House had sidelined him.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin confirmed Ushakov had spoken with U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz by phone; however, the Putin aide has dismissed the U.S. proposal as nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington wants Moscow to agree to the ceasefire with no preconditions.
Mark Voyger, a senior fellow at the Center for European Analysis (CEPA), told Newsweek that ceasefires endorsed by the Russian regime do not have a happy history and that the real dealmaking begins after it signs an agreement.
Mikhail Komin, also from CEPA, said the ceasefire terms largely reflect Washington’s preferences and would secure only a temporary pause in hostilities without guarantees for Kyiv.
The Washington, D.C.-based think tank’s director for democratic resilience, Sam Greene, said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had restored American military and intelligence support at the cost of a notional promise to observe a bilateral ceasefire and warm words for the Trump administration.
Kyiv also avoided being locked into a minerals deal without security guarantees and “put the ball firmly in Moscow’s court.”
What People Are Saying
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, told Zvezda: “The United States has identified a mediator in negotiations with Russia, and this is not Steve Witkoff.”
Mark Voyger, a senior fellow at the Center for European Analysis, told Newsweek: “Ceasefires endorsed by the Russian regime do not have a happy history…For Russia, the real deal-making begins after it signs an agreement, as it constantly breaks deals to extract more concessions while also laying the blame with the other party.”
What Happens Next
Russia has yet to formally respond to the 30-day ceasefire proposal by the United States.
However, there is doubt whether Moscow would agree to the current terms, given Putin’s prior comments that he would not accept a temporary ceasefire without his war aims being achieved, especially if the Russian leader thinks he has the upper hand on the battlefield.
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