MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that he will meet with US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and American businessman Jared Kushner on Thursday for another round of consultations on resolving the Ukraine conflict, Russia’s TASS News Agency reported.
Speaking at a meeting of the Russian Security Council, the Russian president touched upon the situation around the Gaza Strip, Washington’s invitation for Russia to join the “Board of Peace,” US efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, and the future of Russia’s assets frozen in the US, according to TASS.
“I plan to discuss these issues with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with whom I will hold talks tomorrow, as well as with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who will also be in Moscow tomorrow to continue dialogue on issues related to the Ukrainian settlement,” the Russian leader was quoted by TASS as saying.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported that the Russian president said on Wednesday that Moscow could pay $1 billion from frozen assets, a fee necessary for permanent membership in the “Board of Peace,” a new international body proposed by US President Donald Trump.
Putin said as well that Russia’s Foreign Ministry had been instructed to study Trump’s invitation to join his proposed Board of Peace and would reply in due course, Reuters reported. Even before any decision on joining the Board, Putin said Moscow was ready to provide $1 billion – as required by Trump for long-term membership – from the frozen assets “in view of Russia’s special relations with the Palestinian people,” per Reuters.
CNBC reported on Wednesday that Witkoff said that a meeting with the Russian president is set to take place on Thursday. ″[There’s been] lots of progress in the last six to eight weeks,” Witkoff was quoted by CNBC as saying.
Putin and Witkoff have already held five conversations at the Kremlin, and the Russian leader once hosted the US envoy in St. Petersburg. In addition, Putin and Witkoff met during the Russian-US talks in Alaska, where the envoy was part of US President Donald Trump’s delegation, TASS reported.
On the Greenland issue, the Russian president is confident that the US and Denmark are capable of sorting things out between them regarding Greenland, according to a separate TASS report.
“This is definitely none of our concern,” he noted at a meeting of the Russian Security Council. “I think they will sort things out between them,” Putin was quoted by TASS as saying.
