‘Great progress made’ at Putin-Witkoff meeting – Trump

US President Donald Trump has praised the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting between his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, calling it “highly productive.”

Both sides will work on ending the Ukraine conflict “in the days and weeks to come,” the American leader wrote in a post on Truth Social, hours after the meeting ended.

According to Trump, “great progress” was made during the three-hour talks.

He said he had updated some of America’s allies in Europe on the results but provided no further details. “Everyone agrees” the Ukraine conflict should come to an end, he stated.

Commenting on the meeting, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Putin and Witkoff had exchanged “signals.”

“Some signals were transmitted on the Ukrainian issue” by Putin, and “corresponding signals were also received from President Trump,” he told journalists.

Putin’s economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, welcomed Trump’s assessment of the talks, posting on X that “progress is being made, and positive forces will prevail.”

The US president has recently expressed frustration with his lack of success in swiftly brokering a peace deal between Moscow and Kiev. He has urged Moscow to reach an agreement as soon as possible, while threatening to impose secondary tariffs of up to 100% on Russia’s trade partners if it doesn’t.

Shortly before his comment on the Moscow meeting, Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, citing the purchase of Russian oil by Indian companies. New Delhi has branded the move as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”