US President Donald Trump said his special envoy Steve Witkoff could travel to Russia on August 6 or 7 - the final days of a new deadline he has set for Russia to take steps toward ending the war in Ukraine or face sanctions.
Trump had previously stated that Witkoff would go to Moscow after his visit to Israel last week, but had not provided specific details about the itinerary of this visit.
Speaking to reporters on August 3, Trump again warned that he would impose sanctions if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine by August 8.
"There will be sanctions, but they seem to be good at evading them," Trump said. "They're smart and they're good at evading sanctions, so we'll see what happens."
Secondary tariffs will likely target China and India, the two largest buyers of Russian oil.
Kiev and Moscow have continued mutual air strikes before the deadline set by Trump expires.
Trump has pressured Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire agreement and end the war, which has now entered its fourth year.
On July 14, Trump said Putin had 50 days to stop the war or face tough tariffs on Russia's oil and other exports. He later shortened the deadline to August 8.
The deadline cut coincided with a deadly week for civilians in Ukraine, including the July 31 attack on Kiev, in which more than 300 drones were used, killing at least 31 people. Ukrainian forces have also intensified attacks on Russian infrastructure.
The escalation of attacks and the approaching deadline for a ceasefire agreement come at the same time that Trump announced on August 1 that he had deployed nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions.” Trump said he decided to reposition the nuclear submarines “closer to Russia” because of “extremely provocative statements” made by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The US president did not specify whether it was about submarines equipped with nuclear weapons or only submarines that operate with nuclear power.
Asked later by reporters why he had ordered the submarine movement, Trump said "a threat was made by the former president of Russia, and we will protect our people."
Medvedev, who now holds the post of deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, has accused Washington of "playing ultimatums" after Trump announced he had shortened the deadline for the Kremlin to accept a ceasefire. Medvedev wrote on social media that "every new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly responded to US President Donald Trump's latest deadline. He has repeatedly stated that he is interested in peace, but only under conditions that are completely unacceptable to Kiev.
Trump has recently said he is disappointed with Putin, after initially showing more openness to compromise in order to reach an agreement with Moscow.
Since then, the US president has stated that he believes Putin is not negotiating in good faith and last week described Russia's continued attacks on civilian areas as "disgusting". /REL (A2 Televizion)
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