Kremlin Seeks Early Meeting Between US Envoy Witkoff and Putin

Moscow's push for a fast Witkoff-Putin sit-down, paired with its demand for a prompt US briefing on European shuttle diplomacy, signals the Kremlin wants to shape the sequencing of any Ukraine talks rather than react to them. Peskov's emphasis on a 'legitimate' Ukrainian representative is the loaded phrase here — it quietly sets conditions on who Moscow will negotiate with, which matters more than the meeting's timing. The open question is whether Washington treats that framing as a starting position or a precondition, and how European capitals read being briefed second-hand.