"My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a very productive meeting with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made! Afterward, I briefed some of our European allies. Everyone agrees that this war must end and we will work on that in the days and weeks ahead. Thank you for your attention," he wrote. Trump.

Sanctions are still being introduced

Although a White House official, quoted by Reuters, said that the meeting between Putin and Vitkoff went well and that"the Russians are eager to continue cooperation" with the US, it is still expected that the secondary sanctions will be implemented on Friday.

"The Russians want to continue talking with the United States of America. We expect new sanctions to be introduced on Friday," a White House official said, according to Reuters.

Previously, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that by the end of the day he would announce the decision to introduce new sanctions on Russia.

Rubio noted that he spoke with US special envoy Steve Witkoff after his visit to Moscow.

Let us remind you that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff paid his fifth visit to Russia this year, during which he met with the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, and was then received by Putin in the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, Trump and Zelensky ended their phone conversation.