OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:18 PM – Friday, April 11, 2025
President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin early on Friday, in an attempt to pressure Moscow to expedite the peace process in ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
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The meeting is Witkoff’s third visit to Russia since the beginning of President Trump’s second term. The new GOP administration is reportedly beginning to grow impatient with the constant back-and-forth discussions, ultimately telling Russia to “get moving.”
However, the GOP president has also been critical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of failing to prevent the war and previously labeling him a “dictator without elections.”
In diplomatic negotiations, the Trump administration had proposed a deal wherein the U.S. would receive a significant share of Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for continued support. However, Zelenskyy rejected this proposal — citing the lack of security guarantees. Trump then later announced that he was walking away from the potential minerals deal, suggesting instead that the U.S. takes a stake in a nuclear power plant in the war-ridden country.
Despite these tensions, Trump’s envoy continues to engage in diplomatic efforts, emphasizing the importance of a negotiated settlement to end the conflict.
“Russia has to get moving. Too many people [are] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war – A war that should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened, if I were President!!!” Trump wrote on Friday in a Truth Social post.
At the end of March, President Trump issued a warning that he would consider imposing tariffs on Russian oil, should he perceive Moscow as deliberately obstructing progress in the ongoing peace negotiations.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault … I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump stated.
“That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump continued. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25 to 50 point tariff on all oil.”
More recently, Trump told cabinet members that U.S. diplomats are “making progress” regarding a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, adding: “We hope that we are getting relatively close to getting a deal between Russian and Ukraine to stop the fighting.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Petrov stated that the discussion included talks of a “Ukrainian settlement,” and a potential direct meeting between President Trump and Putin. However, Petrov also noted, in a cold tone, that “Witkoff’s visit to Russia cannot be called momentous, [as] no breakthroughs should be expected.”
Meanwhile, Putin has stated that he agrees in principle to the terms laid out for a full ceasefire, while also claiming that many of the bedrock conditions have yet to be agreed on, regarding how the ceasefire would be implemented and held in place.
Putin has also expressed his concern for the lack of conversation surrounding the root causes of the war, arguing that under no conditions should Ukraine be admitted into NATO, and that the Ukrainian army needs to be limited. Putin has also declared that Russia will not give up the four Ukrainian territories it currently occupies from the war efforts — despite not currently holding full control.
As Russia continues its offensive, currently controlling nearly 20% of Ukraine, Putin believes that he is in a strong position to negotiate — ultimately forcing Ukraine to make major concessions in order to strike a peace agreement.
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