Putin open to lasting peace with Ukraine, Trump envoy Witkoff says after ‘compelling’ meet

President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said his meeting with Vladimir Putin was “compelling” and that the Russian leader appeared open to a lasting peace deal with Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff shake hands prior to their talks in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP)

Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg last Friday as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to end the three-year war.

“I think we might be on the verge of something very important for the world,” Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Monday, adding that “it took a while for us to get to this place.”

Witkoff said that after five hours of talks with Vladimir Putin, he saw a deal “emerging.” He also spoke of “a possibility to reshape the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region too.”

Trump calls Ukraine conflict “Biden’s war”

His remarks came after US President Donald Trump called the conflict in Ukraine “Biden’s war” on Monday and remarked that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a role in starting it.

“The war between Russia and Ukraine is Biden’s war, not mine. I just got here, and for four years during my term, had no problem in preventing it from happening,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“President Putin, and everyone else, respected your President! I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS WAR, BUT AM WORKING DILIGENTLY TO GET THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION TO STOP,” he added.

The 78-year-old leader also said that a deal with Kyiv remains possible, even as negotiations between the two sides continue to work towards an agreement allowing Washington access to Ukraine’s vital mineral resources.

The anticipated deal would grant the US royalty payments from profits generated by Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals, in return for the military and financial aid provided by Joe Biden to Ukraine.

The Republican intensified his criticism of Zelensky, questioning his war strategy. “When you start a war, you need to be sure you can win. You don’t begin a conflict with someone 20 times your size and then hope people will send you missiles,” Trump said.