(AFP) – US envoy Steve Witkov concluded his latest talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin on Friday. President Donald Trump has urged his Russian counterparts to move quickly and say it is a “meaningless war” with Ukraine.
Trump has pressed Moscow and Kiev to agree to a ceasefire agreement, but despite repeated negotiations between Russian and US officials, he has failed to draw key concessions from the Kremlin.
The US leader told NBC News last month that he was “offended” with his Russian counterpart, but US diplomat Marco Rubio warned last week that Washington would not tolerate “endless negotiations” with Russia on the conflict.
“Russia has to get started,” Trump wrote on his true social platform, adding that the conflict that began in February 2022, when Moscow sent troops to Ukraine was “meaningless” and “never happened.”
Kiev and some of its western allies suspect that Russia is deliberately stagnating consultations.
Ukrainian President Voldymi Zelensky accused Russia of dragging Beijing into the conflict, claiming on Friday that hundreds of Chinese citizens are fighting on the frontlines of Ukraine alongside Russian troops.
Trump's post came just before Witkov met Putin at the Presidential Library in St. Petersburg.
The Kremlin later said a meeting was held and “focused on various aspects of Ukraine's settlement.”
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov had previously said he didn't expect a diplomatic “breakthrough” from his third talk with Putin since February.
He also said “maybe” to questions about whether a possible meeting between Putin and Trump would be discussed.
After their final meeting, Witkov said that a longtime Trump alliance who worked with the US president of Real Estate, Putin is a “great leader” and “not a bad guy.”
Envoy's praise for the president, which the US saw as an authoritarian enemy, underscores a dramatic shift in Washington's approach to dealing with the Kremlin since Trump took office in a second term.
Despite the gust of diplomacy, little meaningful progress has been made in Trump's main purpose in achieving a ceasefire.
Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, in an interview with the Times released on Saturday, suggested that British and French forces could adopt a zone of control within the country.
Kellogg suggested that as part of his “feeling of security,” he could have a responsible area west of the Dnipro River.
“We can make it look like what happened in Berlin after World War II,” he told British newspapers.
“I was talking about the frequent Resurrection forces to support Ukraine's sovereignty. In the division discussion, I was referring to the area or zone responsible for the Allied forces (no US forces),” he said in X.
Kiev said this week that the forces captured two Chinese citizens in the eastern Donetsk region fighting for Moscow.
The Kremlin denied the allegations, and Beijing warned the parties about a dispute over making “irresponsible remarks.”
“At this point, there is information that at least hundreds of Chinese citizens are fighting as part of the Russian occupation forces,” Zelensky told the military chief of his Brussels allies.
“This means that Russia is clearly trying to prolong the war, even if it uses Chinese life.”
The Ukrainian leader also called on Russia for rejecting the complete ceasefire proposed by the United States a month ago with Ukraine's approval.
Last month, Putin refused a complete and unconditional suspension in the conflict, but the Kremlin had a ceasefire in the West Sea in the West, which eased certain sanctions.
Trump is seeking a broad reconciliation with Moscow, which has led to several outcomes.
On Thursday, Russia released dual-American and Russian ballet dancer Xenia Karelina from prison in exchange for technology smuggler Arthur Petrov, the second exchange between Moscow and Washington within two months.
Karelina, who was arrested after visiting Russia last January after seeing her family, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for “treason” after donating to a charity of about $50 for a charity worth about $50.
Sergei Narishkin, head of Moscow's foreign intelligence agency, said on Friday that Russia will discuss swaps of more prisoners in the future.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the swap helped build trust between the two parties, which had deteriorated under former US President Joe Biden's administration.
“It helps to build much needed trust, but it will take a long time to recover in the end,” he told reporters.
