'We're going to see what happens': US envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow ahead of sanction deadline due Friday; tariff and ceasefire talks on agenda

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to arrive in Moscow on Wednesday for high-level meetings with Russian leadership, ahead of US President Donald Trump’s deadline to impose new sanctions on Russia over its continued military offensive in Ukraine, which is due on Friday.

Tariff threats loom over Russia as Donald Trump announced plans for retaliatory tariffs, warning Moscow to halt its aggression in Ukraine or face fresh economic penalties. Washington signalled that new measures could include “secondary tariffs” on countries continuing trade with Russia, including major buyers like China and India.

“We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We’re going to see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. “We’ll make that determination at that time”, reported AFP.

While the White House has not revealed the specifics of its planned actions, Trump reiterated that any decision would be made after Witkoff’s discussions with Kremlin. “We're going to see what happens,” he said. “We'll make that determination at that time.”

When asked on Monday about the objective of Witkoff’s visit and whether there was anything Russia could do to avoid the looming sanctions, Trump said, “Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Moscow considered the upcoming talks with Witkoff to be “important, substantial and helpful” and appreciated US efforts aimed at ending the conflict.