Trump envoy’s ‘productive’ meeting with Putin leads to new sanctions on India

US President Donald Trump described the August 6 meeting between his special representative, Steve Witkoff, and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “productive.”

In a statement on his Truth Social account, Trump said, “Significant progress has been made! I have since briefed some of our European allies.”

Stating that everyone agrees the conflict in Ukraine must end, Trump added, “We will be working on this in the coming days and weeks!”

Putin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, also told the TASS news agency that the parties held constructive negotiations and exchanged “some signals” regarding the resolution of the Ukraine crisis.

Ushakov, who was present at the nearly three-hour meeting, stated that the parties discussed not only Ukraine but also the possibilities of developing strategic cooperation between Washington and Moscow.

Another participant in the talks was Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the President’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries.

Dmitriev, who met Witkoff at the Vnukovo-2 government airport in the morning, later gave him a morning tour of Zaryadye Park.

After the talks at the Kremlin, Dmitriev commented on his Telegram channel, “The Russia-US constructive dialogue continues.”

According to a report by RIA Novosti, Witkoff spent 50 minutes at the American Embassy in Moscow before returning to the US.

The first step after the meeting was sanctions on India

Following the talks, a White House statement reported by Reuters said, “The meeting went well. Russia is ready for further engagement with the US. Secondary sanctions are still expected to come into effect on Friday [August 8].”

This date was the end of the 10-day period Trump had set for an agreement on Ukraine. The secondary sanctions reportedly include tariffs aimed at third countries trading with Russia.

In a statement on July 14, Trump had said that if no agreement was reached in Ukraine, the US planned to impose 100% tariffs on Russia’s trading partners, particularly China and India, the main buyers of its oil.

About two hours after the talks in Moscow concluded, an executive order by Trump imposing a 25% punitive tariff on India for purchasing oil and petroleum products from Russia was published on the White House website.

The order emphasized that these new tariffs would take effect 21 days after the document’s adoption.

Additionally, it was reported by Reuters that Trump held a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on August 6. It was noted that the two leaders had also spoken the previous day.

Russia is focused on diversifying the bilateral talks agenda as much as possible

Speaking to the newspaper Vedomosti, Andrey Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Discussion Club, said the negotiations in Moscow were a “crossroads” where all processes could go in one direction or another.

Kortunov noted that Russia is focused on diversifying the agenda of the bilateral talks, as Russia-US relations should not be limited to Ukraine. He added that there are many areas of potential interest for Moscow and Washington in terms of strategic cooperation, but it is unknown whether Trump views this as a complement to or an alternative to a resolution in Ukraine.

Viktoriya Zhuravlyova, head of the Center for North American Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes the meeting with Witkoff could be a mechanism for de-escalation.

Zhuravlyova emphasized that even without a breakthrough, this meeting is important for creating a direct exchange of ideas between the parties, which is a key factor in resolving such conflicts.

Zhuravlyova stated, “What is expected of Trump in the US is not cooperation with Russia. He is expected to either make progress in negotiations and resolve the conflict in Ukraine or to toughen his policy as promised. Therefore, the Ukraine crisis will continue to be an obstacle to broad cooperation between Russia and the US until it is resolved in some way.”

Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), noted that the Trump administration understands its options are limited and does not want to escalate tensions in relations with Russia.

According to Suslov, Washington will continue to support the negotiation process, sell weapons to Europeans, and likely impose symbolic sanctions against Russia and its key trading partners on August 8.

Suslov added that Witkoff might have reached an agreement with Moscow for a restrained response to potential new restrictions.

Trump’s representatives for Moscow and Kyiv

Following Trump’s election victory in November 2024, retired General Keith Kellogg was appointed as the special representative for the Russia-Ukraine settlement process. Witkoff was included in this process starting in February 2025.

According to information leaked to the press, Kellogg was tasked with communicating with Kyiv, while Witkoff was assigned to Moscow. This visit by Witkoff to the Russian capital is officially his fifth.

In the period from May to early August, Witkoff lagged behind Kellogg in the frequency of his public statements on Ukraine, and against this backdrop, Trump’s rhetoric toward Moscow had become relatively tougher.

Trump had hinted that the US might withdraw from its mediation role and had expressed his dissatisfaction with Putin due to the lack of sufficient progress in the negotiation process.