WASHINGTON: US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff may travel to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday, US President Donald Trump said. Tru...
WASHINGTON: US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff may travel to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday, US President Donald Trump said.
Trump told reporters before departing for Washington from Bedminster, New Jersey, that Witkoff "is focused right now on the border." "We're talking about Gaza, getting people fed, and he may be going, I think next week, Wednesday or Thursday, may be going to Russia. They would like to see him. They've asked that he meet. So we'll see what happens," the US president added.
Trump also confirmed that he might impose sanctions on Russia on August 9 unless an agreement was reached on resolving the Ukraine crisis. "But they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions," he noted. When asked if there was anything Russia could do to avoid sanctions, the US leader said that it would require "a deal where people stop getting killed."
On July 14, Trump set a 50-day deadline for an agreement on Ukraine, adding that if no deal was reached, he would impose 100% tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners. On July 29, the US leader said he was reducing the deadline to 10-12 days. However, he added he wasn’t sure if the move would influence Russia’s position. According to Acting US Alternate Representative to the UN John Kelley, Trump expects Russia and Ukraine to achieve a peaceful solution by August 8. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 30 that the Russian economy continued to operate effectively despite Western sanctions.
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