STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
White House envoy Steve Witkoff was in Moscow today for talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. A Putin adviser, Yuri Ushakov, tells Russian state media the meeting was useful and constructive.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump moved up his demand for Russia to end the war in Ukraine or face economic penalties. His deadline is by the end of this week. Does Russia care?
INSKEEP: That's the question for NPR's Charles Maynes, who's on the line from Moscow. Hey there, Charles.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: What is Steve Witkoff's assignment?
MAYNES: This would be a last-ditch effort for Russia to come to a deal on Ukraine, at least according to Trump's calendar. This is Trump, after all, who's driving this drama, having delivered a 50-day deadline and then shrinking it to 10 amid frustration about these ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, despite months of U.S.-led peace efforts.
INSKEEP: So the president said, if you don't meet my deadline, I'm going to sanction you. But I'm thinking back over the last few years. The U.S. has imposed a lot of sanctions on Russia. They do seem to have hurt Russia's economy but didn't make it collapse and didn't deter Russia in Ukraine. So what more is President Trump threatening to do?
MAYNES: Well, he's threatening so-called secondary sanctions and tariffs on Russian energy exports - in other words, penalizing countries like China and India that have really propped up Russia's war machine with the purchases of oil and gas. Here's Trump explaining the rationale on CNBC on Tuesday.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If energy goes down low enough, Putin's going to stop killing people. That'll be nice. They're - even though they're his own people that are dying, him and Ukraine. But Putin will stop killing people if you get energy down another $10 a barrel. He's going to have no choice 'cause his economy stinks.
MAYNES: Now, Steve, left unsaid here is that instability in energy markets could, of course, also boomerang back on American consumers.
INSKEEP: Now, when we talk about Steve Witkoff, I have in my head an image of prior visits to Moscow where he's walking across an ornate room and shaking Putin's hand. How has their relationship been?
MAYNES: Well, you know, they've met four times now since Trump took office. Today will be five. And he emerged from those meetings clearly optimistic that a deal between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine is possible, albeit on terms heavily tilted in Russia's favor. You know, of course, we know that deal never happened, and that's much to Trump's frustration. And that's prompted this shift in both policy and rhetoric from Trump. You know, not only did he provide Ukraine with weapons through NATO allies in Europe. He's since made profane comments aimed at Putin and even engaged in threats of nuclear brinksmanship in kind of a sidebar spat online with Russia's former president, Dmitry Medvedev.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
MAYNES: That's even prompted Trump to order two nuclear submarines to be positioned in, quote, "appropriate regions," although it's unclear if that ever happened.
INSKEEP: How is Russia responding to all of this?
MAYNES: Well, you know, the Kremlin says it has taken note of Trump's comments in the case of these nuclear threats. It says urged calm. But the point is, they've stopped short of really engaging in the back-and-forth with Trump, and that goes for Putin as well. You know, he's said almost nothing about Trump's very personal attacks, only making last Friday some cryptic comments in a televised Q&A session in, of all places, a monastery in northwestern Russia. Let's listen.
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PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Non-English language spoken).
MAYNES: So here, Putin says rather cryptically that any disappointments come from inflated expectations, adding that negotiations are more effective behind closed doors than in public. You know, it's hard not to take that as a dig at Trump because we know, unlike Putin, he's rather fond of social media.
INSKEEP: Yeah. But - so they're going to have a private discussion now, Putin and Witkoff. What are the chances of a deal?
MAYNES: Well, Putin insists his army has the momentum on the battlefield. Therefore, he's given no indication he'll back down. But if that's the case, why get together? You know, it seems like both sides might be looking for some kind of compromise or face-saving gesture, perhaps not the full peace Trump is demanding but something just enough to keep him from fulfilling his threats come Friday.
INSKEEP: NPR's Charles Maynes, thanks so much.
MAYNES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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