President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg Friday to discuss resolving the Ukraine war. Earlier the same day, Trump had expressed frustration that the conflict is still raging. 

“Russia has to get moving,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Too many people [a]re DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war.” The president has said he would impose secondary sanctions on nations that purchase Russian oil if he felt Moscow was obstructing peace negotiations.

This was the third meeting this year between Putin and Witkoff, who has emerged as a lead negotiator not only on Russia–Ukraine, but also the Israel–Hamas conflict and Iran’s nuclear program. Witkoff is expected to travel to Oman for talks with Iranian envoys Saturday. 

The Friday meeting in St. Petersburg comes at a time of elevated geopolitical tension and uncertainty, with the U.S. and China locked in a tit-for-tat trade war and Trump threatening to attack Iran if an accord blocking it from making nuclear weapons isn’t struck soon. Tehran, an ally of both Moscow and Beijing, has signaled openness to discussing the military aspects of its nuclear program.

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