President Donald Trump’s trusted foreign envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, after the Kremlin requested that Witkoff visit in a last-ditch effort to avoid the punishing new sanctions Trump has threatened to impose this week,

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, days before the White House’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil.

After leaving Alaska, Trump says he would prefer to "go directly to a peace agreement" to end the war in Ukraine, rather than a temporary ceasefire.