LAHORE MIRROR (Reuters) — President Vladimir Putin hosted US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in a grand imperial palace on Wednesday to review new ideas on ending the war in Ukraine amid Washington’s latest push to stop Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two.
The talks in St Petersburg, the ninth time that Witkoff has met Putin in person, began with a goodwill gesture from Russia – the release of a retired US school teacher held in Russia.
Get a look at the day ahead in European and global markets with the Morning Bid Europe newsletter. Sign up here.The encounter comes amid concerns in Kyiv and among its allies that the United States is backing away from Ukraine, at times holding back real-time intelligence on Russian attacks and hobbling Ukraine’s military communications.
The latest talks came more than two years since US President Donald Trump promised in his successful election campaign to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
Witkoff flew into Russia’s second city on Wednesday morning a day after conducting what a US official called “constructive” talks in Oslo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the leaders of Finland and Norway and European and NATO representatives, as President Donald Trump said it was time for Ukraine to end the war or face “a very bad thing.”
US-Ukraine ties have deteriorated sharply since Trump announced a diesel export deal with Russia earlier this month to help lower prices in the United States. High fuel costs since he launched strikes on Iran have hurt his Republicans ahead of November legislative elections.
Since the diesel deal, Ukraine has complained of disruption to some intelligence sharing and to its use of the Starshield military satellite system, though Zelenskiy said that Tuesday’s Oslo meeting had reached an agreement to resolve those issues.
