18:59 BST
Will Vernon
BBC News
Image source, Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/EPAThere was reportedly confusion leading up to today’s summit about what exactly Vladimir Putin had preliminarily agreed to during a meeting with White House envoy Steve Witkoff last week.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Witkoff had presented three differing versions of a potential ceasefire deal – accepted by Putin – to European officials.
Most notably of all, reports say this concerned the crucial point of whether Moscow was prepared to withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, both partially occupied by Russia.
Writing on social media about the Witkoff-Putin meeting, President Trump said: “My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made!”
Witkoff has come under criticism before from former US diplomats and analysts for meeting President Putin without advisors, failing to take notes and relying on a Kremlin interpreter, instead of bringing a translator from the US Embassy in Moscow.
Experts have noted that Witkoff, who is often referred to as ‘President Trump’s Special Envoy for Everything’, lacks qualifications and experience in diplomacy and international affairs.
Prior to his White House appointment, he worked as a New York lawyer and real-estate developer.
Compare that to President Putin, who’s been doing diplomatic deals on the international stage for more than 25 years.