MOSCOW, Apr 11 (Reuters): US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff flew into Russia on Friday and it looked likely that he would hold talks with President Vladimir Putin, as US tensions with Moscow's close allies Iran and China spiked.
The Kremlin confirmed Witkoff's arrival, and the Izvestia news outlet released video of Witkoff leaving a hotel in Russia's second city St Petersburg, accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's investment envoy.
The Kremlin declined to confirm if Witkoff would hold talks with Putin, but Axios, which reported his trip earlier on Friday citing a source familiar with the matter, said that Witkoff and Putin would meet.
Witkoff has emerged as a key figure in the on and off rapprochement between Moscow and Washington amid talk from the Russian side of potential joint investments in the Arctic and in Russian rare earth minerals as the two countries continue to search for the outline of a possible peace deal in Ukraine.
Putin was also in St Petersburg on Friday to hold what the Kremlin called an "extraordinarily important" meeting about the development of the Russian Navy which is in the throes of a major modernisation and expansion drive.
If he does meet Witkoff, in a third meeting this year, it would come at a time when US tensions with Iran and China - two countries with which Russia has close ties - are severely strained over Tehran's nuclear programme and a burgeoning trade war with Beijing.
Witkoff is due in Oman on Saturday for talks with Iran over its nuclear programme after Trump threatened Tehran with military action if it does not agree to a deal. Moscow has repeatedly offered its help in trying to clinch a diplomatic settlement.
US and Russian officials held talks in Istanbul on Thursday which they both said had made progress towards normalising the work of their diplomatic missions as they begin to rebuild their own bilateral ties. However, US-Russia dialogue aimed at agreeing a ceasefire ahead of a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine appears to have stalled over disagreements around the conditions for a full ceasefire.
Trump, who has shown signs of losing patience, has spoken of imposing secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is dragging its feet on a Ukrainian deal.
A February meeting between Witkoff and Putin culminated with the US envoy flying home with Marc Fogel, an American teacher Washington had designated as wrongfully detained by Russia.
