Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the terms of the continuing conflict following Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who negotiated with Putin in Moscow.
Steve Witkoff, special envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump, travelled to Moscow, Russia, on August 6, 2025, to meet with President Vladimir Putin for about three hours at the Kremlin to address the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
It was reported that Mr Witkoff’s meeting was inclusive of a final diplomatic effort by the U.S. to address a ceasefire in the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict before President Trump’s sanctions deadline took effect.
How did Trump describe the Moscow negotiations’ outcome?
President Donald Trump called the meeting of his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, with Russian President Vladimir Putin “productive,” saying “great progress was made” during his meeting with him for approximately three hours in Moscow.
As reported by the media, Trump was hopeful in his messaging about the potential for future progress and a possible meeting of both Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky, but U.S. Officials kept reinforcing the fact that sanctions on key trading partners of Russia will still be enacted if Russia does not meet the deadline.
Why is Zelensky urging direct talks with Putin?
Ukrainian President expressed later that he had spoken by phone with the US president, who stated he could meet with the Russia president “very soon,” and that EU leaders had been on the call.
“We in Ukraine have repeatedly said that finding real solutions can be truly effective at the level of leaders,”
Zelensky noted.
Today is a day of numerous calls and contacts aimed at making real progress on the path to peace and ensuring Ukraine’s independence under any circumstances.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 7, 2025
Several conversations are planned for today. A call with German Chancellor Merz is already on the schedule. We’ll also be…
“It is necessary to determine the timing for such a format and the range of issues to be addressed,”
he also said.
The Ukrainian leader stated Thursday morning that he had intended to hold “several” discussions throughout the course of the day, including with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as French and Italian officials.
“There will also be communication at the level of national security advisors,”
Zelensky added.
“The main thing is for Russia, which started this war, to take real steps to end its aggression,”
Zelensky added.
When did Putin and Zelensky last meet in person?
The last occasion when Russian President Vladimir Putin saw Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in person was in December 2019 at the Normandy Format Summit in Paris. So far, this was their only opportunity to meet in person. The four leaders, who included French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, discussed potential avenues to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
This meeting led to some ceasefire accords, but did not solve the conflict. As such, there have been no further in-person meetings since then.
