Steve Witkoff has reportedly arrived in Moscow to discuss the results of US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia
The US delegation’s plane at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, Russia, March 13, 2025. © Maksim Blinov / RIA Novosti
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has reportedly arrived in Moscow for high-level talks on the Ukraine conflict.
Flight trackers and Russian state media indicated that Witkoff’s jet landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport around 12:30 local time on Thursday.
His reported arrival in the Russian capital comes after representatives from the US and Ukraine held talks on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, where they issued a statement confirming that Kiev had agreed to a proposed 30-day ceasefire with Moscow. The US also announced the resumption of military aid and information sharing with Ukraine following the meeting.
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13 March 2025
14:47 GMT
Russian political analyst Sergey Markov has warned that any ceasefire in Ukraine will be exploited by the West to rearm Kiev’s “political regime,” ramp up its conscription drive, as well as strengthen its repressive and anti-Russian nature.
Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin has said Trump is not ready to “unilaterally” withdraw from the Ukraine conflict, and “risks getting increasingly bogged down,” despite the US president’s apparent eagerness to wind down hostilities.
- 14:25 GMT
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky may have had success in manipulating the previous US administration of President Joe Biden, but he has apparently not managed the same with President Donald Trump, according to the vice speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev.
“The outcome of the US-Ukraine talks in Jeddah reveals a clear truth: Zelensky’s attempts to make ‘the tail wag the dog’ may have worked with Biden, but not with Trump,” Kosachev said, stressing that the ceasefire deal terms have so far been set by the US alone.
Given Russian troops’ advances on the battlefield, “dealings with Russia will be different,” Kosachev said.
“Any agreements – and we recognize the need for compromises – will come on our terms, not America’s,” he stated, adding that “real agreements are still being forged on the front lines.”
- 14:16 GMT
Washington is unlikely to “trick” Moscow with a ceasefire proposal, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Russia 1 TV journalist Olga Skabeeva on Thursday.
“It will not be a trick… because we know what we need and they know what we want,” he said, adding that in the event of a ceasefire, there will no “movement” in the Ukraine conflict.
Despite this, the Ukrainian “economy will still work, the military-industrial complex will work, they’ll produce weapons,” and receive “weapons from abroad,” Lukashenko said.
Nevertheless, “Ukrainians will most likely not agree to this,” the Belarusian leader said, adding that Kiev expects Russia to refuse.
- 14:09 GMT
The US has no real plan for the Ukraine conflict, Belarusian leader Lukashenko told the media in Moscow on Thursday, on the sidelines of his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Instead, the US may have general outlines about “stopping the war” and is “testing the waters” with its ceasefire offer, he added.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. © Sputnik / Kristina Kormilitsyna
- 13:37 GMT
Moscow and Washington both agree that Ukraine becoming a NATO member is “not under discussion,” Russian presidential aide Ushakov has said.
- 13:16 GMT
Moscow wants a long-term peace in the Ukraine conflict, and is against a temporary ceasefire, presidential aide Ushakov told Rossiya 1 TV on Thursday.
The official said he made this position known in a recent telephone conversation with US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
”I stated our position that this is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military,” he said.
- 13:15 GMT
The motorcade presumed to be Witkoff’s has left Moscow’s Vnukovo airport.
- 13:09 GMT
Russian President Vladimir Putin will talk with Trump’s delegation about the proposed ceasefire across Thursday and Friday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has told reporters.
- 13:09 GMT
Washington has identified a mediator for the US-Russia talks, and it is not Witkoff, presidential aide Ushakov told Zvezda TV on Thursday.
- 13:09 GMT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has an “optimistic” outlook on the upcoming US-Russia talks, the top diplomat said in a brief comment to the media on Thursday.
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