This story will be updated as more information becomes available
A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, began on Wednesday, August 6, in the Kremlin.
The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported the meeting, citing the presidential press service.
Witkoff arrived in Moscow around 7:00 a.m., landing at Vnukovo-2 airport. He was received by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
“Immediately after arrival, he went with Dmitriev to the Voskhod restaurant in Zaryadye Park. Then the official’s delegation got into a car and left the park,” RIA Novosti wrote.
Zaryadye Park is located near the Kremlin.
At around noon, it was officially confirmed that Putin had received Witkoff at the Kremlin. Details of the meeting have not yet been disclosed.
As of 2:40 p.m. Putin’s meeting with Witkoff has concluded at the Kremlin. According to RIA Novosti, citing the presidential press service, the conversation lasted approximately three hours.
A video circulating on social media shows Witkoff’s motorcade departing from the Kremlin.
Witkoff and Putin have met multiple times before.
Last week, Trump announced that Witkoff would soon travel to Russia to discuss the war in Ukraine. Initial reports said the visit would take place over the weekend, but Trump later clarified it would happen on August 6 or 7.
In mid-July, Trump gave Putin a 50-day deadline to end the war or face sweeping secondary sanctions, including penalties on buyers of Russian oil. He later shortened the timeline, declaring August 8 the final day for Moscow to act.
Trump also voiced frustration that while peace talks were ongoing, Russian missiles continued to strike Ukrainian cities, killing and wounding civilians.
A US official earlier confirmed to AFP on Tuesday that Witkoff would meet Russian officials in Moscow on Wednesday - just two days before Trump’s deadline. The White House has not disclosed his agenda.
The visit comes amid heightened tension. After Trump claimed on TruthSocial that two US nuclear submarines had been deployed “to the region,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against “dangerous and destabilizing” nuclear rhetoric - ignoring the fact that Medvedev had initiated such rhetoric days earlier.
Meanwhile, Russia continues its missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, and peace talks remain stalled.
Putin’s demands remain unchanged: full Ukrainian withdrawal from annexed regions - including parts Kyiv still controls - and a formal end to NATO ambitions.
Zelensky has rejected these terms as “nonstarters” and insists on the return of occupied territories and security guarantees, calling for regime change in Moscow.
Peskov said Putin is open to meeting Zelensky, but only “after the necessary work is done at the expert level and the appropriate distance is overcome.”