Wittkoff thanked Putin for the ceasefire and called the meeting “one of the most memorable”

U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Wittkoff, at a meeting in the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin, expressed gratitude to the Russian side for the three-day ceasefire and said that the talks with the Russian president would be one of the most vivid memories of his life.

Opening the meeting, Wittkoff described the moment of waiting outside Putin’s office, which involved himself, Jared, Mr. Dmitriev, and Mr. Ushakov.

“We were looking forward to this meeting today, and we were outside the doors of this office — Mr. Dmitriev, Mr. Ushakov, Jared, and I. And we were talking about how, when we retire, we will have a great many stories we can look back on, and our interactions with you will be one of the best and most memorable,” Wittkoff said.

The American envoy also conveyed “the very best wishes” to Putin from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Separately, Wittkoff thanked the Russian side for agreeing to the three-day ceasefire regime, which provided for a halt to strikes on Kyiv and Moscow.

“Mr. President, I wanted to thank you for the Russian Federation agreeing to a ceasefire for these three days, with no strikes to be carried out on either Kyiv or Moscow — so as to allow us to fly here in a safe manner,” Wittkoff said.

At the time the information emerged, the talks in the Kremlin between Putin and the American representatives had already been ongoing for more than two hours.