The plane carrying Trump's special envoy Witkoff, which took off from Qatar this morning, crossed the Russian border, according to FlightRadar data.
The White House reported that Witkoff would visit Moscow to persuade the Russian side to sign a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.
Russian President Putin surprisingly visited the Russian command in Kursk. For the first time ever, he wore a military uniform, more precisely a Russian camouflage uniform.
In all the years he has been President, this is the FIRST TIME he has ever done that - and it has been noticed. The question raised by Putin wearing a uniform is: "What message is he sending, and to whom?"
The wearing of the uniform comes a day after the US Delegation meeting with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia, came up with a "proposal" to have a 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. Russia has already indicated this is completely unacceptable as it would only give Ukraine time to regroup and rearm.
Moreover, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a remark that "If the Russians reject the ceasefire, then we know their intention is not peace." THAT was a bad thing to say because it has been known for at least two years the Russians have a very specific set of terms to end the conflict:
Ukraine cannot join NATO or any other military bloc, AND;
Ukraine must agree that the territories now-added to Russia from the conflict, are Russian - forever, AND;
No deployment of foreign troops on Ukraine territory, for any reason.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed today that Moscow has closely examined the results of the U.S.-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia but has yet to receive any formal ceasefire proposal.
“We have reviewed the statements and the outcomes, but no official document has been presented to us. However, we are open to discussions with U.S. representatives, and this could happen very soon.”
UPDATE 11:50 AM EDT --
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide said THIS MORNING he had told Washington that a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States to pause the war in Ukraine would simply give Kyiv’s forces a much-needed battlefield respite.
Mr Trump’s Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on March 13 for talks.
Mr Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington who speaks for Mr Putin on major foreign policy issues, told Russian media that he had spoken to Mr Waltz on March 12 to outline Russia’s position on the ceasefire. “I stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” Mr Ushakov said. “It gives us nothing. It only gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to regroup, gain strength and to continue the same thing,” he later added.
Mr Ushakov said Moscow’s goal was “a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our well-known concerns”. “It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation,” he said.
