Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, Russian news Interfax agency said on Wednesday, citing the Kremlin.
Trump has set a deadline of Friday for Russia to agree to end the Ukraine war or face new sanctions.
Witkoff was greeted at the airport by Russia's investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a source involved in the preparation of the visit told Reuters on Wednesday.
Trump, who warned that he would impose sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine before Friday, had said earlier that Witkoff might be traveling to Moscow this week.
A source familiar with the plan told Reuters on Tuesday that Witkoff would meet with Russian leadership on Wednesday.
But Putin is unlikely to bow to the ultimatum because he believes he is winning the war and his military goals take precedence over his desire to improve relations with the US, three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters.
"The visit of Witkoff is a last-ditch effort to find a face-saving solution for both sides. I don’t think, however, that there will be anything of a compromise between the two," said Gerhard Mangott, an Austrian analyst and member of a group of Western academics and journalists who have met regularly with Putin over the years.
"Russia will insist it is prepared to have a ceasefire, but (only) under the conditions that it has formulated for the last two or three years already," he said in a telephone interview.
"Trump will be under pressure to do what he has announced - to raise tariffs for all the countries buying oil and gas, and uranium probably as well, from Russia."
The Russian sources told Reuters that Putin is skeptical that yet more US sanctions will have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3-1/2 years of war.
The Russian leader does not want to anger Trump, and he realizes that he may be spurning a chance to improve relations with Washington and the West, but his war goals are more important to him, two of the sources said.
The visit follows Witkoff's visit to Israel this past week and meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas have stalled.
Witkoff and Huckabee's visit to Gaza
During his visit to Israel, he also visited the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Gaza Strip.
"At President Trump's direction, Ambassador Mike Huckabee and I met yesterday with Israeli officials to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza," Witkoff said after visiting Gaza on Friday.
"Today, we spent over five hours inside Gaza; level setting the facts on the ground, assessing conditions, and meeting with the GHF and other agencies. The purpose of the visit was to give Trump a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza."
Benjamin Netanyahu has been attempting to reduce tensions between the US and Russia with Donald Trump’s knowledge, KAN News reported on Tuesday, citing sources close to the prime minister.
Netanyahu’s office has been working closely with Russia in the past few weeks, according to KAN, in apparent efforts to resolve several different issues, including the tension between the US and Russia following Putin’s insistence on continuing the war in Ukraine.