Witkoff to present Putin with peace proposal after talks with Zelensky
· Axios
White House envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday and present him with an updated proposal to end the war in Ukraine, a U.S. official said.
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- President Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner will join the meeting virtually.
Why it matters: The White House hopes Putin will show more willingness to compromise after Trump agreed to lift sanctions on Russian diesel sales and took other steps welcomed by Moscow.
Driving the news: Witkoff will arrive in Russia after a day of talks in Oslo, Norway with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as the leaders of Norway and Finland and representatives from France, the UK, Germany, Poland, the EU and NATO.
- Zelensky said on Tuesday that the next step should be a trilateral meeting between him, Putin and Trump — something Russia has refused to do so far.
- The U.S. hopes the new proposal will "create a pathway toward direct trilateral and broader multilateral negotiations," a U.S. official said.
Zoom in: The discussions in Oslo focused on developing a unified proposal for a "framework agreement" to end the war.
- The U.S. official said Ukraine "brought forward new ideas and proposals, which were discussed in detail."
- The official said the parties made "meaningful progress" and now have "strong alignment at the working level" on next steps.
Behind the scenes: Kushner joined the meeting virtually and again pressed Trump's demand that Ukraine halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, according to a source with knowledge.
- "Jared was very direct," the person said.
- Zelensky said after the meeting that he's prepared to cease strikes on Russian oil refineries if Moscow takes reciprocal steps.
What he's saying: Trump said on Tuesday that he thinks "Russia would like to get it done" but expressed doubt that Zelensky wants to end the war.
"If he does not, it's gonna be a very bad thing," Trump added. "We want Zelensky to make a deal … If they don't make a deal, it's just gonna get worse [for Ukraine]."