🇺🇸🇷🇺⚡️- US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin tonight in Russia in what is being described as a "closed format meeting." Other US officials as well as Russian officials are expected to attend the…

🇷🇺🇧🇾 - Putin-Lukashenko conference over, Putin spoke for less than half a minute. The two will now meet privately.

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "The mutual security treaty between Russia and Belarus entered into force today."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "Citizens of Russia and Belarus will be able to participate in local elections in both countries."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Lukashenko: "The new situation in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine was discussed during the meeting with Putin."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Lukashenko: "Russia and Belarus will continue to counter NATO if necessary, including in the military sphere."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "We thank Trump for his attention to the settlement in Ukraine."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "Russia agrees with proposals to end hostilities, but only those that lead to long-term peace and eliminate the causes of the crisis."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "Russia is for a ceasefire, but there are nuances, including the Kursk region."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "It is in Ukraine's interests to achieve a 30-day ceasefire given that all of its military personnel in the Kursk region are blocked."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "Ukraine can use the 30-day ceasefire to obtain weapons or force mobilization."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "The Russian Armed Forces are advancing almost everywhere, it is unclear how the situation on the contact line will be resolved in the event of a ceasefire."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "The issues of control and verification in the event of a ceasefire are still unclear. The issues of monitoring violations of the ceasefire along the 2,000 km contact line in Ukraine will be very complex."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "The idea of a ceasefire is correct, but there are issues that need to be discussed, including with the United States."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "We will call Trump to discuss the idea of a truce."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Lukashenko: "Ukrainians should have ceased fire and sat down at the negotiating table long ago."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "The situation on the ground is rapidly changing in favor of the Russian Federation."

🇺🇸🇷🇺⚡- "Putin is not expected to talk with Trump today," - Yuriy Ushakov, Putin's top foreign policy advisor,

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- Putin: "Russia will negotiate the next steps to end the conflict and reach acceptable agreements based on the realities on the ground."

🇷🇺🇧🇾⚡- End of Putin-Lukashenko press conference.