Kremlin: Improving relations with Washington will take time and there are no quick solutions

The official spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, announced today, Wednesday, that improving relations between Russia and the United States will not be quick, pointing to a clear stalemate in this process due to the absence of direct meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and American President Donald Trump for a long time.

Peskov told the official Russian news agency TASS: "It takes time to bring bilateral relations back to their normal course."

These statements came in light of President Donald Trump's announcement of an upcoming meeting between the two sides today, Wednesday, telling reporters: "We have a meeting with Russia... We will see what happens."

In a related context, special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow today to meet with officials in the Russian leadership, according to a source close to the matter on Tuesday.

The U.S. State Department confirmed the visit but refused to disclose the agenda.

This step comes at a time when Trump has given Russia until next Friday to stop its attack in Ukraine, warning of harsher sanctions if military operations continue, amid Trump's frustration with the lack of response from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in recent weeks.

Russia and Ukraine have held three rounds of negotiations in Istanbul, but they have not resulted in any tangible progress towards a ceasefire, amid a significant ongoing gap in the positions of both parties.

Relations between Moscow and Washington remain tense and complex, with anticipation for the consequences of these meetings and the upcoming diplomatic efforts.