Trump says Russia and Ukraine ‘very close to deal’ after Witkoff meets Putin
The Russian general was killed when a car exploded on Friday in the city of Balashikha
By Darya Tarasova, Ivana Kottasová, Nick Paton Walsh and Sophie Tanno, CNN
(CNN) — US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” that would end their three-year war, after his envoy met with President Vladimir Putin on Friday in talks Moscow said were “constructive and very useful.”
“A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social after landing in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.
Kyiv and Moscow have not met directly since the early weeks of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor. Any direct talks would likely require further discussion and add delay to the diplomacy the Trump White House has hoped will yield results in a matter of days.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff spent three hours meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Friday, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the meeting, adding that the talks were “constructive and very useful.”
Witkoff’s trip to Russia, his fourth since Trump returned to the White House in January, came at a crunch time. The US president’s self-imposed deadline to end the war within his administration’s first 100 days is nearing.
“This conversation allowed the Russian and US positions to be further brought closer together, not only on Ukraine, but also on a number of other international issues,” Ushakov told reporters in a call.
Ushakov, a former Russian ambassador to Washington, was part of the meeting with Putin, as was Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev, Russian state news agency Tass said.
CNN reported earlier Friday that two diverging visions of a peace deal are at the heart of recent negotiations: one supported by Ukraine and its European allies, and another backed by the Trump administration.
A European official familiar with the different drafts said the Ukrainian and European proposal envisaged a ceasefire followed by discussions about territory, with Kyiv receiving defense guarantees from its allies along the lines of those found in NATO’s Article 5.
Witkoff’s version proposed the recognition of Crimea as Russian by the United States, “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine, Kyiv not joining NATO and sanctions against Russia being lifted, the official said.
Recognizing Russian control of Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, would cross a major red line for Ukraine and its European allies, and would be in breach of established international law.
It would also reverse around a decade of US foreign policy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the idea, saying there was “nothing to talk about” as such a recognition would be against Ukraine’s constitution.
The United States has been applying more pressure on Ukraine after threatening last week it could walk away from the talks “within days” if it becomes clear a deal cannot be reached.
Opposing visions of peace
According to Ushakov, part of the discussion considered direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow.
“As for the Ukrainian crisis itself, the discussion was, in particular, about the possibility of resuming negotiations between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine,” he said.
Witkoff and Putin likely also discussed an amended peace proposal which Zelensky said emerged from a week of diplomatic wrangling. Zelensky said President Donald Trump had received on his desk a fresh document proposing a path forward in negotiations more amenable to Ukraine and its European allies.
Vice President JD Vance earlier on Wednesday called “to freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today.”
Asked what concessions Russia was offering on Thursday, Trump replied, “stopping the war,” suggesting that not “taking the whole country” is a “pretty big concession.”
CNN reported this week that Trump was getting frustrated with the stalling talks and has privately told advisers that mediating a deal has been more difficult than he anticipated.
At a briefing on Friday in Kyiv, Zelensky conceded that Ukraine lacks the military might needed to retake Crimea by force, but urged the international community to maintain pressure on Russia.
Series of targeted bomb attacks
Friday’s highly anticipated meeting in Moscow took place soon after the announcement that General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, had been killed when a car exploded in Balashikha, which lies less than 20 miles east of the capital.
Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed Moskalik’s death, adding that the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The attack appeared similar in nature to previous assassinations of Russian officials, including that of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, a top Russian general who was accused of orchestrating the use of chemical weapons on the battlefields in Ukraine.
Kirillov – who headed Russia’s radiological, biological and chemical protection forces – was killed in December, after a remotely operated bomb planted inside an electric scooter went off outside an apartment building in Moscow.
CNN has reached out to Ukrainian authorities for comment.
The influential Russian military blog Rybar said Moskalik was not in the Volkswagen Golf when it exploded but was close to it after walking out of a nearby building. CNN cannot independently verify this report.
Little is known about Moskalik, who held the rank of lieutenant general.
Rybar described him as “competent and demanding” and said “he was not well liked” because he was “tough on his subordinates.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it has opened a criminal probe into the explosion. It added that an investigative team, including forensic experts and law enforcement officers, had begun examining the scene.
Tass earlier reported that the explosive device was “homemade.”
Friday’s reported blast comes two days after a fire broke out at an underground car park in Moscow’s business district following an explosion there.
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CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood, Alayna Treene and Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting.
