Trump views Witkoff's talks in Moscow as highly productive

WASHINGTON. Aug 6 (Interfax) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had highly productive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made," Trump wrote on the X social network.

"Afterwards, I updated some of our European allies. Everyone agrees this war must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come," the president added.

At the same time, Trump did not mention the possibility of the U.S. imposing secondary sanctions on Russia.

Russian Direct Investment Fund head, Special Presidential Representative for Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries Kirill Dmitriev responded positively to Trump's comments.

"Progress is being made and positive forces will prevail," he wrote on X.

Dmitriev, who attended the negotiations, said earlier on Wednesday that he regards the conversation between the Russian and American sides as a continuation of the constructive dialogue between Russia and the U.S.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing a White House representative, said earlier on the X social network that, according to the source, the U.S., as expected, will impose secondary sanctions on Friday.

Witkoff met with President Putin during a visit to Moscow on Wednesday. The Russian president and the U.S. special presidential envoy discussed the Ukraine crisis, as well as the prospects for the possible development of strategic cooperation between the U.S. and Russia, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told journalists. The talks lasted about three hours.

"We sent certain messages particularly on the Ukraine issue. Some messages were also received from President Trump," Ushakov told journalists.