Vladimir Putin and Stephen Witkoff. Photo: kremlin.ru
On August 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. During the conversations, he informed his counterparts about the results of his August 6 meeting at the Kremlin with Stephen Witkoff, special envoy of the U.S. president, the Kremlin press service reported.
Mirziyoyev thanked Putin for the information and “expressed support for efforts to find political and diplomatic solutions to the Ukrainian crisis,” according to the Kremlin. The two leaders also discussed issues of bilateral cooperation.
“Special attention was given to coordinated measures aimed at ensuring steady growth in mutual trade and investment, accelerating joint projects in priority sectors of the economy, and continuing productive contacts as well as business and humanitarian exchanges at the regional level,” the Uzbek president’s press service said.
In his conversation with Tokayev, Putin — “in the spirit of Russian-Kazakh relations of alliance and strategic partnership” — outlined the key results of the dialogue with Washington, including the meeting with Witkoff. The Kazakh president expressed gratitude for the briefing and supported steps toward finding a peaceful resolution, the Kremlin noted. The two leaders also discussed certain bilateral issues, including the implementation of infrastructure projects and preparations for upcoming high-level contacts.
The press services of the Uzbek and Kazakh presidents did not release their leaders’ reactions to Putin’s account of the meeting with Witkoff.
On August 6, Putin and Witkoff held a three-hour meeting at the Kremlin. According to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the talks “addressed ideas for further joint work in the context of resolving the Ukrainian crisis. It was again noted that Russian-American relations could develop along a completely different, mutually beneficial trajectory, markedly different from that of recent years.” The sides agreed to arrange a meeting between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in the near future.
Ushakov added that, immediately after Witkoff reported to Trump about his meeting with Putin, the U.S. president called several European partners to discuss it. The Russian side likewise began briefing its closest partners on the topics discussed during the meeting with Witkoff.
