envoy Witkoff Russia visit

Washington (dpa) — President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he may send US special envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia in the middle of the following week.

“I think next week Wednesday or Thursday [Witkoff] may be going to Russia,” Trump told journalists before a flight to Washington, adding that Russia had asked for the meeting.

That would be just before the expiry of a 10-day deadline that Trump had set for Russian President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire or peace agreement with Ukraine. Trump threatened to hit Russia’s trading partners with major tariffs if the deadline is not met.

In July, Trump threatened to hit Russia’s trading partners with “severe” tariffs if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire within 50 days, with a deadline set for September 2.

But during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer later in the month, Trump said he would reduce the 50 days he gave Putin “to a lesser number,” saying this could be “10 or 12 days.”

Trump justified the move by saying he was disappointed with the Russian leader, who had shown no willingness to compromise.

The Kremlin has repeatedly emphasized that it will not be pressured into a deal.

With his tariff threats, Trump wants to further weaken the Kremlin’s economic base by putting more pressure on Moscow’s main trading partners such as China and India, although the US president has not yet specified which countries would be targeted.

Russia has been waging war against neighbouring Ukraine for more than three years.