Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Moscow is ready to negotiate with Ukraine without preconditions during a meeting with US envoy Wittkow, according to the Interfax news agency, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Wittkoff met with Putin for three hours in Moscow on Friday to discuss the U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump said the two sides are “very close to a deal,” despite the obvious differences in their positions.
At the same time, expressing his disappointment over recent Russian missile attacks on civilian areas, Trump questioned whether Putin was sincere about ending the war.
“Putin has no reason to have fired missiles at populated areas, cities and villages in recent days. This makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform.
Earlier, the Russian president reported that Russian forces had recaptured the Kursk Region after Moscow announced that Ukrainian forces had been driven out of the last village they held.
For the first time, Russia also confirmed that North Korean soldiers are fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk, with the Chief of the General Staff praising their “heroism” in contributing to the expulsion of Ukrainians.