Witkoff to brief Ukrainian and NATO officials on Putin meeting
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Trump and Putin in Helsinki in 2018. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty
White House envoy Steve Witkoff plans to hold a video conference on Thursday with senior officials from Ukraine, Finland, France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. to brief them on his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss the path forward, including a possible Trump-Putin summit, according to two sources with direct knowledge.
Why it matters: President Trump was moving toward a much tougher position on Russia, but pivoted after the Trump-Witkoff meeting to talking optimistically about the "progress" being made and the possibility of a summit with Putin.
Behind the scenes: Trump held a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders on Wednesday and told them about the possibility of a meeting between him and Putin, and a trilateral summit afterwards including Zelensky.
- That call left confusion in Kyiv and other European capitals. Officials were uncertain whether U.S. policy was changing, or whether sanctions would still be announced on Friday as Trump had planned.
The intrigue: Ukrainian officials say they are concerned Putin's proposal for a meeting with Trump is a way for him to try and reach agreements with the U.S. directly about ending the war, without Ukraine or the European powers having a say.
- The White House didn't immediately respond to questions about Witkoff's planned conference call.
Driving the news: Putin said Thursday that there was mutual interest in a summit with Trump, but the Kremlin cast doubt on the U.S. proposal for a trilateral summit with Zelensky.
What's next: Trump announced Wednesday that he would double tariffs on India to 50%, effective August 27, over the country's purchases of Russian oil.
- The White House said further penalties on Russia would be announced Friday. But officials haven't said whether China — the other major customer of Russian oil — would be targeted, or whether India would still face the tariff hike if some kind of deal with Russia was reached.
