Trump envoy Witkoff says Putin has been 'straight' with him after eight meetings
Feb 24th 2026
Steve Witkoff told Fox News that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been straightforward in one-on-one talks and that repeated meetings were necessary to understand Russian red lines as efforts to end the war in Ukraine continue.
- Witkoff said Putin has "never been anything other than straight" with him during their meetings.
- Witkoff has met Putin eight times and said those meetings were necessary to understand Russian motivations and red lines.
- He said "good news" on ending Russia's war in Ukraine could emerge in the coming weeks and did not rule out a Zelenskyy-Putin summit.
- Zelenskyy told reporters after Geneva talks on February 17-18 that he sees military progress but not political progress in negotiations.
- Zelenskyy said on February 20 that another round of talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the US could take place before the end of the month.