Putin to Witkoff: We Can Help on Iran

EASTORA REPORT | Steve Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg carrying ideas from Volodymyr Zelensky. Vladimir Putin met him with an offer of his own: Russia is ready to help end the war with Iran.

The U.S. special envoy went directly from talks with Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo to his ninth face-to-face meeting with Putin, as Washington tries to move the Ukraine war back toward negotiations.

But Iran quickly entered the room.

“We have a special, trust-based relationship with our partners in Iran,” Putin told Witkoff. “If we can contribute to the resolution of the war there, we would be willing to do so.”

Putin also presented Trump as increasingly focused on the human cost of Ukraine. He said the U.S. president had repeatedly stressed in their conversations, including their latest phone call, that the war needed to end above all because soldiers were dying and civilians were suffering.

The diplomacy is now moving alongside something more tangible: Russian diesel.

Witkoff thanked Putin for easing restrictions on diesel exports, while Moscow prepares its first 40,000-metric-ton shipment to the United States. Russia says the tanker will depart Thursday and more will follow once financial arrangements are completed.

The fuel deal has become another fault line between Washington and Kyiv. Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for contributing to high fuel prices and pressed Kyiv to stop them, while Zelensky has accused Washington of rewarding Moscow.

Putin, meanwhile, told Witkoff that announcements about Russian diesel supplies had already helped push global prices lower.

Witkoff arrived carrying proposals from Kyiv. He leaves Putin’s table with Russia offering diplomacy on Iran, diesel for America — and another message for Trump.