Russian President Vladimir Putin received this Wednesday the special envoy of the White House, Steve Witkoff, just before the end of the ultimatum imposed by US President Donald Trump, to stop the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin reported at the start of the meeting.

This is the fifth meeting between Putin and Witkoff since the beginning of the year, and so far the Russian leader has not accepted the demand for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Television footage shows Putin and Witkoff shaking hands in the Kremlin in the presence of Russian Presidential International Advisor Yuri Ushakov.

Trump announced he would impose sanctions on Russia and its trading partners if an agreement on the war in Ukraine was not reached, reducing the deadline from 50 to 10 days on July 29.

“If the deadline arrives and Russia has not agreed to a ceasefire, there will be sanctions. But (Moscow) seems pretty good at avoiding sanctions. They are shrewd people and quite skilled at evading them,” Trump insisted over the weekend. International press speculates that Moscow would be willing to suspend aerial bombers, but not the ground offensive of its troops in the Donbas and the northern border of Ukraine. Although the visit was expected this weekend, the Kremlin assured that it would be delighted to receive Witkoff once again. “We are always glad to see Mr. Witkoff in Moscow and to maintain contacts with him. We consider them important, significant, and very useful,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov at his press conference. daily telephone press.

If there is no agreement on Ukraine that satisfies the White House, Trump could announce sanctions against Russia and secondary tariffs against importers of Russian oil, namely India and China.

Trump addressed this issue and the supply of US-made weapons the day before in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.