Trump administration official says peace talks with Russia were ‘positive’

Special envoy Steve Witkoff recently met with Russian officials about continued peace negotiations, and he said the meeting was “positive.”

“This morning, I met with President Putin,” Witkoff said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I think the meeting was somewhere between three and four hours. It was positive.”

Witkoff said the conversation was a “solution-based discussion” with Putin.

The meeting comes after weeks of attempts from the U.S. to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

U.S. officials met with Russian affiliates, essentially sidelining Ukraine and causing international concern. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Trump in Washington, D.C., to aid the situation, but the meeting ended in shouting between the leaders.

Ukraine and Zelensky have sought to repair relations with the U.S. after Trump paused aid for the war-torn country.

Officials have pressed ahead with peace talks, including Witkoff’s meeting.

“The two sides are today a lot closer,” he said.

“We had some really positive results coming out of [the] Saudi Arabia discussions led by our national security adviser Mike Waltz and our Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” Witkoff added, pointing to the recent U.S.-Ukraine meeting.

Witkoff said that meeting was positive and that the discussion with Putin was “equally positive.”

“The two sides, we have narrowed the differences between them, and now we’re sitting at the table,” he said.