US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff looks on before a meeting with France's President at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on April 17, 2025. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)
Moscow: US envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Russia this week, a Kremlin aide said Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump seeks a speedy deal to end the three-year Ukraine conflict.
Trump, who promised on the campaign trail to strike a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in 24 hours, has failed since his return to office three months ago to wrangle concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt his troops in Ukraine.
Trump said over the weekend he hoped a peace deal could be struck "this week" despite no signs the two sides were anywhere close to agreeing even a ceasefire, let alone a wider long-term settlement.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Tuesday against rushing into a speedy ceasefire, telling a state TV reporter that the issue was too "complex" for a quick fix.
"It is not worth setting any rigid time frames and trying to get a settlement, a viable settlement, in a short timeframe," he said.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov meanwhile told state media that Witkoff was expected this week in Moscow, his fourth visit to Russia since Trump took office.
Moscow's forces hold around a fifth of Ukrainian territory and tens of thousands of people have been killed since the military offensive started in February 2022.
After rejecting a US-Ukrainian offer for a full and unconditional ceasefire last month, Putin announced a surprise Easter truce over the weekend.
Fighting dipped during the 30-hour period but Russia launched fresh attacks on residential areas on Monday and Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.
Kyiv and its allies dismissed the truce as a public relations exercise from Putin.
"The Easter truce that he announced somewhat unexpectedly was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told FranceInfo radio.
