The key facts

  • The Putin-Witkoff meeting took place in St. Petersburg; Witkoff brought documents with the results of the talks in Oslo.
  • Deputy Kravchenko called the main outcome the dialogue's shift 'from the plane of exchanging public signals to a regime of substantive work on pressing issues'.
  • Kravchenko allowed for movement in resolving the conflict in Ukraine and stated that business dialogue 'is already underway'.

Assessment by a State Duma deputy

Russia and the US are restoring business contacts despite persisting political disagreements. This is how Denis Kravchenko, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, assessed the meeting that took place between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the American leader's special envoy Steve Witkoff, in a comment to News.ru. In his view, the main result of the meeting is that the dialogue between the parties 'has moved from the plane of exchanging public signals to a regime of substantive work on pressing issues'. In this regard, the deputy allowed for movement in resolving the conflict in Ukraine.

Comment on economic cooperation

Touching on the possible restoration of economic cooperation, Kravchenko stated: 'Regarding the restoration of economic cooperation — here we see mutual commercial potential. Russia is ready to discuss specific projects. Pragmatic business dialogue is not only possible but is already underway, despite the political situation'.

Course of the talks in St. Petersburg

The meeting between Putin and Witkoff took place in St. Petersburg. In the public part of the talks, the Russian president emphasized the existence of interest in the topic of restoring economic cooperation with the US and asked about the results of the talks in Norway. Witkoff, for his part, said he had brought special documents with the results of the meeting with European and Ukrainian representatives in Oslo.

Context

Earlier, Ukraine reacted pessimistically to the talks in Oslo and St. Petersburg.