US President Donald Trump has confirmed that his special envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Russia on Wednesday or Thursday, a day or two before he issues an ultimatum to the Russian president to end the war in Ukraine.
“The envoy’s visit will be next week, Wednesday or Thursday,” the US president told reporters last night.
He also said that two US nuclear submarines, which he ordered to be deployed after an online dispute with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, are now in the region.
He did not say whether they were nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed. He did not give details about their exact location, which the US military keeps secret.
The show of force came after Trump set a deadline of the end of the week for Russia to take action to end the war in Ukraine, under threat of new sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had already met with Steve Witkoff several times in Moscow before Trump’s efforts to reestablish relations with the Kremlin abruptly ended.
Asked by reporters what Witkoff’s message to Moscow would be and whether there was anything Russia could do to avoid sanctions, Trump replied: “Yes, to make a deal and stop people getting killed.”
Trump threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” on countries that continued to trade with Russia, such as China and India.
