U.S. Special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday as President Trump's deadline for a ceasefire with Ukraine looms.

Moscow

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as a deadline set by President Trump for a ceasefire in Ukraine draws closer. The U.S. administration has warned of new sanctions if Russia does not agree to halt its military actions in Ukraine, with recent attacks reported in Odessa, Kharkiv, and Kyiv.

During his visit, Whitkoff also met with Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's personal envoy involved in previous peace talks. Despite the diplomatic efforts, expectations remain low for a breakthrough, as Russia continues its military campaign and the U.S. threatens additional sanctions and tariffs targeting Russian oil exports.

U.S. envoy Witkoff meets Putin as Trump's sanctions deadline nears

The U.S. Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff is in Moscow this morning, where he met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The meeting comes ahead of President Trump's Friday deadline for the Kremlin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face new sanctions. For more on this, I want to bring in CBS News foreign correspondent Rami Inocencio from our London newsroom. Rami, what can we expect from this visit? Michael, yeah, good morning there. According to Russian media, that meeting is still underway. But Putin and Whitkoff, when we saw them get together at the Kremlin, both of them were smiling. They shook hands. But whether those smiles faded after the cameras went away is an open question, because White House pressure is on Putin for some kind of ceasefire deal with Ukraine. And we know that Trump's ultimatum is in 48 hours, is this Friday. You might remember that Trump first gave the Russian president 50 days to agree to a deal, but then he cut that to just 10 days, because Russia's army kept attacking Ukrainian cities and is still doing so even today. Moscow hit a gas facility in southern Odessa. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says that that is Moscow trying to undermine, trying to cause pain for winter preps for heating. Yesterday, it was a railway hub in northeast Kharkiv that was hit. And then, last week, it was the capital, Kyiv, itself. Several people were killed in that attack. This morning, we also saw Whitkoff meet with Putin's own personal envoy—envoy to envoy, if you will—here. That's Kirill Dmitriev. And he took a walk with him near the Kremlin. He is in charge of investment in Russia. He's also played a part in all three rounds of peace talks, which have failed so far, right, with Ukraine in Istanbul. Trump, we know, has threatened more sanctions on Russia, along with 100 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, namely China and India—they've been doing that—and are top importers, despite this continued Western ban. But really, Michael, expectations are low going into this meeting of these U.S. and Russia minds, whether Moscow will agree to a deal. Again, that Trump deadline is this Friday, and we are waiting for lines to drop between Whitkoff and Putin sometime later today. All right. We'll continue to watch.

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U.S. envoy Witkoff meets Putin as Trump's sanctions deadline nears

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Ukraine Invasion