"Russia must speed up. Too many people are DYING, thousands every week, in a terrible and senseless war", Trump wrote on the platform Truth Social ahead of the meeting between Witkoff and Putin.
At 21:00 on Friday, Russian state media announced that the conversation was over. According to Ria Novosti, the meeting lasted for four and a half hours, but no details were given, writes news agency AFP.
The purpose was described in advance as including the discussion of the proposed agreement in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitrij Peskov said that no breakthroughs were expected and that the meeting was a good opportunity to "convey Russia's concerns".
Liked the latest meeting
Earlier on Friday, Witkoff also met with Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitrijev, head of Russia's state-owned direct investment fund.
The meeting is Witkoff's third with Putin, writes news site Axios.
The Trump administration has shifted and established new contacts with isolated Russia, with clear wishes for a swift end to the Russian invasion war in Ukraine.
After the first meeting in Saudi Arabia, Kirill Dmitrijev has been visiting Washington DC. Steven Witkoff has met Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier, after which he announced that the leader is not evil, but rather gives a trustworthy impression.
I liked him. I judged that he was straight with me, said Witkoff in March.
On Thursday, Russian and American delegations met in Turkey for talks on opening embassies in each other's countries.
Escalation is happening
The countries also announced a new exchange of a few prisoners on Thursday. Sergej Narysjkin, the highest chief of Russia's foreign-oriented intelligence service SVR, claims that there may be more.
According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Trump is carefully weighing whether Russia and Putin really want to end the war. So far, the US-led talks have not yielded any visible results on the front – war analysts estimate that the Russian military is rather stepping up and possibly preparing for a larger offensive.
