Ukraine-Russia war: Witkoff meets Putin in the Kremlin: Moscow calls for a "constructive summit," air truce on the table.

With two days to go until Donald Trump's deadline for Russia to accept a peace deal in Ukraine, threatening further sanctions if it did not, US Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff was received today for over three hours in the Kremlin by Russian President Vladimir Putin .

Now on his fifth visit to Moscow, without ever managing to wrest an agreement from his counterpart and contradicting the facile and clearly unrealistic promises of Trump, who during the election campaign boasted of being able to stop the conflict in Ukraine "in 24 hours", it is unclear what emerged from the meeting between Witkoff and Putin.

According to Yuri Ushakov , a Russian presidential adviser quoted by several local news agencies, during the meeting with US envoy Witkoff, President Putin " sent some signals " on the Ukrainian issue to Trump, and in turn "received corresponding signals" from the US president. A " very useful and constructive " discussion, Ushakov called it, which obviously focused on the Ukrainian crisis but also "the prospects for a possible development of strategic cooperation between the United States and Russia."

On the eve of the Kremlin summit, the Financial Times reported that the Trump administration was considering imposing further sanctions on Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers if there was no ceasefire, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg and the independent Russian media outlet The Bell, on the other hand, claim that the Kremlin could propose a moratorium on air strikes on Ukraine , as hinted last week by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko , a historic ally and vassal of the Putin regime. However, this would be a far cry from the ceasefire requested by Washington and Kiev.

Today's meeting between Witkoff and Putin comes after tensions reached a peak last week between Washington and Moscow: relations had deteriorated so much that it prompted US President Trump, always seeking dramatic gestures, to send two US nuclear submarines "to the appropriate regions."

On the eve of the Moscow summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Washington to step up pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. "It is very important to use all the levers available to the United States, Europe, and the G7" regarding Russia , Zelensky wrote on social media shortly after US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow. The Kremlin "will truly seek to end the war only when it feels sufficient pressure. Ukraine recognizes the political will and appreciates the efforts of our partners, America, and all those who are contributing," said the Ukrainian leader, who had a "productive conversation" with Donald Trump on Tuesday.