“Dialogue Will Prevail”: Unexpected Scenes Of Witkoff & Putin Envoy Strolling Through Moscow Park

Bloomberg is reporting Wednesday that President Donald Trump suggested he would hike tariffs on more countries buying Russian energy, including China, as the deadline for ceasefire looms, and as US envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow trying to make headway with President Putin.

Witkoff’s talks with Putin lasted three hours, according to Russian media, after Witkoff landed in the country early on Wednesday. Images in Russian media showed the two men smiling and shaking hands in an ornate, gilded hall – after having met for several rounds of meetings spanning prior months.

The Kremlin in follow-up called it “constructive and useful” – according to TASS. They discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine, RIA Novosti stated.

Last month, Trump’s outlook turned more dire and negative on the chances for peace. ”We thought we had [the war] settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” he had said.

And last week witnessed the single deadliest airstrikes on Kiev since the war’s start – with the death toll having risen to 32 after another man recently died of his injuries, following the collapse of a nine-story apartment that was struck.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has of course welcomed the prospect tougher US sanctions and tariffs on nations buying Russian oil. He has made clear Ukraine’s perspective that Putin would be forced into a serious peace deal if his war machine ran out of money.

Wednesday saw a fresh Russian attack in the central region of Zaporizhzhia, reportedly striking a holiday camp which left two dead and 12 wounded. “There’s no military sense in this attack. It’s just cruelty to scare people,” Zelensky said in the aftermath.

As for the dialogue with Trump’s envoy Witkoff, part of it took place through conversation with Putin’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, with the two taking a relaxed stroll through a public park in Moscow, which apparently caught some random Muscovites by surprise.

Our exclusive footage of Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev taking an early morning walk through Zaryadye park next to the Kremlin.

Notably minimal visible security as ordinary Muscovites appear surprised to find themselves among such company. pic.twitter.com/9NJWNiXLDI

— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) August 6, 2025

So the Kremlin appears to be sending calm messaging, likely in hopes that Trump will hold off on implementing the more dire and drastic of consequences and threats.

Dmitriev has at the same time said he is confident Moscow and Washington can find common ground through diplomacy and honest dialogue. The CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) took to X after the Witkoff meeting and thanked his followers in English for “kind wishes for a successful visit of Steve Witkoff to Moscow,” adding that “Dialogue will prevail.”

Thank you all for your kind wishes for a successful visit of @SteveWitkoff to Moscow.

Dialogue will prevail.

— Kirill A. Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) August 6, 2025

Will it? Let’s hope so.