Steve Witkoff did not keep lengthy within the Russian capital.
Based on footage posted of his motorcade leaving and returning to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, he was right here for little greater than 12 hours.
And for many of that, it appears, he was left ready.
Trump’s fixer leaves Moscow – peace talks latest
US particular envoy Steve Witkoff speaking to reporters on the White Home. Pic: AP
Mr Witkoff, a former property mogul who has turn into Donald Trump’s chief negotiator, and is sometimes called the president’s ‘fixer’, had been dispatched to Moscow to ship the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire to Vladimir Putin.
His go to had been scheduled close to the beginning of the week, following the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.
However after arriving round lunchtime on Thursday, he was left twiddling his thumbs for no less than eight hours earlier than being known as into the Kremlin.
Mr Putin was apparently too busy assembly another person – Belarusian leader Aleksander Lukashenko – for a unexpectedly organized state go to that had been introduced the day earlier than.
Is a ceasefire in Ukraine nonetheless viable?
Was ally’s go to a basic Putin energy play?
We do not know for positive if the timing of Mr Lukashenko’s go to was deliberate, nevertheless it definitely did not really feel like a coincidence.
As an alternative, it felt like a basic Putin energy play.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko. Pic: Reuters
The Kremlin chief does not prefer to be backed right into a nook and instructed what to do, particularly on his personal turf.
This felt like a message to the People – “I am the boss, I set the schedule, and I am not beholden to anybody”.
He did finally grant Mr Witkoff that all-important face time, as soon as evening had fallen and behind closed-doors.
We do not understand how lengthy they spoke for, nor the precise particulars of their dialogue, however I believe we are able to make a fairly good guess given Mr Putin’s feedback earlier within the night.
At a press convention alongside Mr Lukashenko, he made it abundantly clear that he’ll solely signal as much as a ceasefire if he will get one thing in return.
And it isn’t only one factor he needs.
All Russia’s pink traces stay
By the sounds of issues, he nonetheless needs all the pieces.
His remark concerning the “root causes” of the battle suggests all of Russia’s pink traces stay – no NATO membership for Ukraine, no NATO troops as peacekeepers, and for Russia to maintain all of the territory it has seized.
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Based on Russian media outlet Radio Mayak, Mr Putin’s conferences within the Kremlin completed at 1.30am.
Round half an hour later, Mr Witkoff was again on the airport – leaving Russia, it appears – not with Mr Putin’s settlement however with an inventory of calls for.
It is now as much as Mr Trump to determine what to do subsequent.
