U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport early Wednesday and was received by Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev before heading to the Kremlin for talks with President Vladimir Putin, Russian state media and a U.S. source said. Interfax later confirmed that Putin and Witkoff met behind closed doors, marking the envoy’s fifth trip to Russia this year. The visit comes two days before the 8 August deadline set by President Donald Trump for the Kremlin to make progress toward a cease-fire in Ukraine or face new U.S. penalties. Trump has threatened “secondary tariffs” on countries that continue buying Russian exports, a move that could hit major energy importers such as China and India. Speaking to reporters this week, Trump said the only way for Moscow to avoid sanctions was to “get a deal where people stop getting killed,” adding, “We’ll see what happens” after the Moscow talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the discussions with Witkoff “important, substantial and helpful,” but signalled that Russia’s conditions for ending the war—recognition of its control over four partly occupied Ukrainian regions and Kyiv’s neutrality—remain unchanged. Analysts describe Witkoff’s mission as a last-ditch effort to secure a face-saving truce before Washington acts. Putin, however, is viewed as unlikely to concede on core objectives despite mounting economic pressure, leaving Trump to decide by Friday whether to activate the threatened sanctions.