United States President Donald Trump has announced that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Russia next week to continue diplomatic discussions regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine. Trump specified that the visit is planned for either Wednesday or Thursday, highlighting renewed U.S. efforts to broker peace in a conflict that continues to claim civilian lives.
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Responding to reporters’ questions about how Russia might avoid impending U.S. sanctions, Trump bluntly suggested that “getting a deal where people stop getting killed” is the only viable path forward. He underscored his administration’s readiness to impose “very severe tariffs” on Russia should it fail to reach a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine in the near future.
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Amid these tense negotiations, Trump revealed that two U.S. nuclear submarines had been deployed to an unspecified region following an online dispute with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The president did not clarify whether the submarines were nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed, nor did he disclose their exact locations, citing standard U.S. military protocol.
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Trump’s comments come in the wake of a devastating Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Kyiv, which killed 31 civilians. He characterized Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine as “disgusting,” noting that July 2024 saw a record 6,297 Russian long-range drone attacks—a fourteenfold surge compared to previous months.
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Ukraine, meanwhile, continues to await the delivery of a U.S.-made Patriot missile system, a key air defense asset. Trump has pledged that the missile system will arrive soon, although funding for its delivery will come from European allies rather than directly from the United States.
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As the conflict escalates, Ukraine has also intensified its own attacks inside Russia. Over the weekend, Ukrainian strikes killed three people and triggered a massive blaze at an oil refinery. On Monday, a Ukrainian drone attack set off a fire at a railway station in Russia’s Volgograd region, further escalating tensions between the two nations.
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Diplomatic channels remain active, with recent talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials taking place in Istanbul, Türkiye. The latest round of discussions resulted in an agreement to exchange 1,200 prisoners, as announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though Russian authorities have not yet commented.
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Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate and long-time Trump associate, has established himself as a key figure in White House diplomacy, having met with Russian President Vladimir Putin several times in Moscow. Witkoff also serves as Trump’s envoy in the Middle East, recently visiting Tel Aviv to meet with families of hostages held in Gaza, underscoring the breadth of his diplomatic portfolio during this turbulent period.