Putin-Witkoff meeting was ‘constructive,’ Kremlin says ahead of Trump’s sanctions deadline

By Anna Chernova, Svitlana Vlasova and Catherine Nicholls, CNN

(CNN) — The Kremlin said US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a “constructive and useful” meeting on Wednesday, according to Russian state media TASS, as the Trump administration’s sanctions deadline looms over Russia.

The meeting, which state media said lasted around three hours, took place after a frustrated US President Donald Trump last month threatened Russia with sanctions if it does not soon agree to a Ukraine peace deal.

“Putin conveyed some signals to the United States on the Ukrainian issue. Corresponding signals were also received from President Trump,” state media outlet RIA Novosti reported, citing the Kremlin.

The Kremlin said it will release more information on what was discussed after Witkoff reports back to Trump, RIA said in a post on social media.

Senior US administration officials still have not gotten a readout of the meeting, a US official said.

Earlier in the day, the US envoy was greeted at the airport in Moscow by Russia’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Video later posted by the Kremlin showed Witkoff shaking hands with Putin ahead of their meeting.

Trump has grown increasingly impatient with Russia’s resistance to his peace efforts. Since the last meeting between Witkoff and Putin in April, Russia has ramped up its assault on Ukraine, attacking cities with an onslaught of missiles and drones.

Trump has called Russia’s attacks “disgusting” and has accused Putin of peddling “bullsh*t” in their tense phone conversations.

Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, Trump said that he would wait for the outcome of the talks to decide whether or not to impose new sanctions on Russia.

“We’re going to see what happens,” the president said at the White House. “We’ll make that determination at that time.”

‘Cruelty aimed at instilling fear’

As diplomacy was underway in the Kremlin, Ukraine was once again left reeling following a spate of Russian attacks across the country overnight into Wednesday.

At least six people were killed in strikes carried out by Moscow in the 24 hours before Wednesday morning, including the deadly bombing of a recreation center in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack on the center, where two people died and four children were among the 12 wounded, as having “zero military sense,” calling it “just cruelty aimed at instilling fear.”

A gas compressor station that helps Ukraine receive US and Azerbaijani energy imports was also attacked overnight, according to the country’s energy ministry.

The gas transmission facility in the town of Novosilske, which is close to the border with Romania in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, was targeted by dozens of strike drones, the ministry said.

“Hundreds of families were left without gas,” Zelensky said in a statement. “This was a deliberate blow to our preparations for the heating season – absolutely cynical, like every Russian strike on our energy infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine also said Wednesday morning that the US State Department has signed off on a $200m deal which will allow its partners to purchase military supplies on its behalf, including technical support for heavy artillery. The US has not yet commented.

On Tuesday, Zelensky welcomed pledges from NATO members worth more than $1 billion, through an initiative in which four of Ukraine’s European allies – the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden – will purchase US-made weapons for Kyiv.

This story has been updated with developments.

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CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood and Angus Watson contributed to this report.