The aircraft, which is owned by a key Donald Trump ally, landed in Moscow amid speculation in Russia that the new administration could be seeking a US-led deal to end the war in Ukraine
Russian officials meet at Russian Foreign Ministry after unexpected arrival
A private jet owned by a key Donald Trump ally has been spotted in Moscow – sparking rumours that secret talks could be taking place over Ukraine.
The Gulfstream G650ER business jet flew in from Washington, triggering speculation in Russian media that the trip could be linked to secret back channel talks on ending the war. It reportedly belongs to billionaire Steve Witkoff 67, a property investor, attorney, and philanthropist, who is serving as the United States Special Envoy to the Middle East. The Kremlin immediately issued a statement claiming to have no knowledge of Mr Witkoff or any other Trump envoy flying in.
Trump himself allegedly previously used Witkoff’s “Ghost Flight” executive jet as a decoy flight during the US presidential election campaign, amid fears of an assassination bid targeting his recognisable Trump Force One aircraft, according to the newly released book ‘Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power’.
A flight map shared online shows the jet approaching Moscow after entering Russian airspace. US Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy has meanwhile visited the Russian Foreign Ministry, where she held a “scheduled” meeting with Sergey Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, according to the ministry. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov left the building while the US ambassador was there.
Trump has yet to nominate an ambassador to Russia, but has appointed retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg as the Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia. He had confirmed that Kellogg would visit Ukraine this week.
Asked about a Kellogg visit to Ukraine this week, Trump said: “General Kellogg is an excellent guy, and he’s spending time doing various things. We have numerous people working on numerous different problems.
“You know, when I left office, was it long ago, a little more than four years ago, we had no wars. We had no – we didn’t have problems. Now, we got, the whole world is blowing up, but we’ll put out the fires.”
The Gulfstream G650ER aircraft reportedly landed shortly before 10am at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, used by Putin and other top officials. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said a “one-time technical flight was carried out from Washington to Moscow today as part of the usual practice of humanitarian cooperation”, according to TASS.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There is no information. And we don’t have any contacts planned. We said that we have contacts through different agencies. They have indeed intensified, as we’ve said, as the administration is also setting up its activities in Washington. But in this case, there is nothing on the Ukrainian settlement.”
The Kremlin also seized on Trump comments that Ukraine may in future be part of Russia. The US president had said: “They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday.”
Trump said he wanted a return for US investment, blaming Joe Biden for failing to get it. He claimed Ukraine had essentially agreed to his demand to mine “$500 billion worth of rare earth”, referring to the country’s rich unexploited mineral wealth.
