Updated Aug. 6, 2025
Russia remains defiant but views Witkoff’s visit as a chance to deliver a message to the U.S. president.
An artificial-intelligence tool created this summary, which was based on the text of the article and checked by an editor. Read more about how we use artificial intelligence in our journalism.
President Trump intends to meet soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a senior administration official said Wednesday, after an offer Russia made during a trip to Moscow by special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump is open to meeting with his Russian counterpart and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the official added. It isn’t clear when and where the meeting would take place.
The meeting would be among the most dramatic moments yet of Trump’s second term. He plans to square off with Putin in a confrontation of serious consequence: ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump said on social media that Witkoff had made “great progress” in his meeting with Putin. But he added that there wouldn’t be a cease-fire by the Friday deadline he had set.
“Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come,” he wrote.
Trump will have an additional challenge. He will need to sidestep concerns that Putin would use the meeting to avoid the threat of sanctions on Russia’s energy customers and prolong peace negotiations so he can continue to attack Ukraine. Critics had long suggested Putin would dangle the prospect of a one-on-one meeting to extinguish Trump’s ire, which had grown after months of excuses for not signing a peace deal.
Trump has already offered his first salvo in the new pressure campaign against Russia. Earlier Wednesday, he said he would place another 25% tariff on India, a Russian energy customer, bringing its total tariff to 50%. Trump pledged to target countries that buy Russia’s oil if Putin didn’t agree to a deal, aiming to choke off resources for the Kremlin’s invasion.
“These actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s External Affairs Ministry.
A Trump adviser said more countries would face Russia-related sanctions on Friday.
Trump called Zelensky shortly after Witkoff’s meeting with Putin ended, offering a readout of their conversation and informing the leader about next steps, a person familiar with the conversation said.
Zelensky said in a social-media message after his call with Trump: “Our joint position with our partners is absolutely clear—the war must end. And it must be done honestly. European leaders were on the call, and I am grateful to each of them for their support.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the administration might provide an update later Wednesday about how it would respond to Russia. “We’ll have some other discussions throughout the day, and then, hopefully, there’ll be some announcements here fairly soon,” he said. “Maybe positive, maybe not.”
Russia has been defiant in its response to Trump’s warnings, saying it won’t be swayed by ultimatums. But Witkoff’s visit to Moscow—his fifth this year—was seen by Russia as an important chance to deliver a message to the U.S. president and signal its willingness to at least keep talking with Kyiv.
Witkoff sat down with Putin after a meeting with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who has been Moscow’s most vocal advocate for closer ties with the U.S. Witkoff has forged a close relationship with Dmitriev, who is an important conduit for Moscow’s messaging in the West.
Russian state media aired footage showing Witkoff walking through central Moscow with Dmitriev, who posted a photo to X showing him greeting Witkoff on the tarmac of a Moscow airport. The Kremlin later published a clip of Witkoff shaking hands with Putin, as Putin’s aides stood nearby.
Putin’s meeting with Witkoff lasted about three hours, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the discussion focused on the war in Ukraine and on strengthening U.S.-Russia ties.
“A very useful and constructive conversation took place,” he said. On Ukraine, he said without elaborating that “certain signals were conveyed. Corresponding signals were also received from President Trump.”
Russia and Ukraine remain far apart in their positions over the war, with no tangible progress emerging from several meetings between the two sides in recent months. Russia has sought in its public statements to decouple the issue of Ukraine from the question of forging closer economic ties with the U.S.
Trump has suggested that any deals with Russia would be contingent on the war being stopped, but the Kremlin has been upbeat about the prospect of improving relations. They took a dive after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and plummeted further during the administration of former President Joe Biden, who sought to isolate Moscow and make it pay for the war.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that it would take a long time to overcome the effects of that period. “Time is needed for efforts to move bilateral relations onto a normal trajectory,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Hours before the high-level meetings took place in Moscow on Wednesday, Russia launched another attack on Ukraine, according to Kyiv. Authorities in southern Ukraine said that two people were killed and a dozen wounded after a Russian glide bomb struck a holiday resort in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Zelensky said medics and first responders were working to help the wounded in Zaporizhzhia, and called for more pressure on Moscow to end the war. “There is zero military sense in this strike,” he said in a post on X. “Just cruelty aimed at instilling fear.”
Write to Matthew Luxmoore at matthew.luxmoore@wsj.com, Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com and Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com