"They're smart guys": Trump wants to send Witkoff to Moscow this week

Donald Trump is trying to force Russia into peace talks with an ultimatum. The deadline set by the US president ends on Friday. Washington's special envoy, Witkoff, is scheduled to appear in Moscow shortly beforehand.

US President Donald Trump is likely to send his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Russia midweek. Witkoff will travel there "perhaps Wednesday or Thursday," Trump told reporters before a return flight to Washington.

This would be just before the expiration of a 10-day deadline Trump had set for Russian President Vladimir Putin. A ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, which has been attacked by Moscow, is to be achieved within this time. The shortened deadline began Tuesday – after which Trump intends to impose sanctions on Russia's trading partners. Witkoff has already traveled to Russia several times and met with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

With his tariff threat, the US president aims to further weaken the Kremlin's economic base, especially by putting greater pressure on major energy consumers like China and India. The Kremlin has so far appeared unimpressed by the US threats. "There will be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at circumventing sanctions," Trump said, referring to Russia. "They're smart guys and pretty good at circumventing sanctions, so we'll see what happens."

Trump also said that two nuclear submarines, which he had deployed after an online exchange with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, were now "in the region." Trump did not specify whether they were nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. He also did not specify where exactly the submarines would be deployed. The positions of U.S. nuclear submarines are top secret.

After returning to the White House, Trump had moved closer to Putin, which was viewed with great concern in Europe. Recently, however, the Republican has expressed increasing frustration with Moscow.