Trump's envoy Witkoff meets with Putin in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff met for talks in St. Petersburg on Friday.

Witkoff flew to Russia on Friday morning for talks with President Vladimir Putin about the search for a peace deal on Ukraine, the Kremlin said, saying the two men might also discuss a Trump-Putin meeting.

Witkoff has emerged as a key figure in the on-off rapprochement between Moscow and Washington amid talk on the Russian side of potential joint investments in the Arctic and in Russian rare earth minerals.

Putin was also in St Petersburg on Friday to hold what the Kremlin called an "extraordinarily important" meeting about the development of the Russian Navy, which is in the throes of a major modernization and expansion drive.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the planned Witkoff-Putin meeting, telling Russian state media the U.S. envoy's visit would not be "momentous" and that no breakthroughs were expected.

The meeting will be their third this year and comes at a time when U.S. tensions with Iran and China - two countries with which Russia has close ties - are severely strained over Tehran's nuclear program and a burgeoning trade war with Beijing.

Witkoff is due in Oman on Saturday for talks with Iran over its nuclear program after Trump threatened Tehran with military action if it does not agree to a deal. Moscow has repeatedly offered its help in trying to clinch a diplomatic settlement.

Putin and Trump have spoken by phone but have yet to meet face-to-face since the U.S. leader returned to the White House in January for a second four-year term.

Trump, who has shown signs of losing patience, has spoken of imposing secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is dragging its feet on a Ukrainian deal.