US envoy Steve Witkoff thanks Vladimir Putin for diesel deal at Ukraine talks in Russia

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff held a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday to discuss Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The talks in Russia follow a prior meeting between Witkoff, Ukraine's president, and other European leaders in Oslo, Norway, to which the U.S. envoy is scheduled to return after his visit.

The diplomatic engagement occurs as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes Kyiv to reach a deal that halts the ongoing fighting. During the televised start of the meeting in St. Petersburg, Witkoff thanked Vladimir Putin for a diesel deal.