Steve Witkoff, an envoy for President Trump, arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for talks on Ukraine that Mr. Trump has described as pivotal in determining whether the United States goes ahead with new sanctions against Russia.

Mr. Witkoff was greeted at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport by Kirill Dmitriev, an economic aide to President Vladimir V. Putin, who has been the Kremlin’s main counterpart for Mr. Dmitriev. Afterward, Russian state television showed Mr. Dmitriev and Mr. Witkoff taking a walk in the morning sun in Zaryadye, a landscaped park just outside the Kremlin walls.

It was the fifth visit to Russia this year by Mr. Witkoff, a longtime personal friend of Mr. Trump who now holds the title of special envoy for peace missions.

In each previous visit, Mr. Witkoff held hourslong talks with Mr. Putin himself, receiving extraordinary access to a Russian leader who has met with few Western officials since he invaded Ukraine, and who rarely grants audiences to foreigners who are not heads of state.

Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said earlier in the week that he would “not rule out the possibility” of a meeting between Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Putin this time as well.

Those meetings helped facilitate prisoner exchanges that freed two Americans jailed in Russia, and helped pave the way for phone calls between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump. But none brought clear signs of progress in ending the war in Ukraine, one of Mr. Trump’s top foreign policy priorities.

While Mr. Trump initially appeared to give Mr. Putin the benefit of the doubt and blamed President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine for dragging out the three-year war, he has increasingly soured on Mr. Putin in his public comments lately. Mr. Putin, on the other hand, has sought to placate and engage with Mr. Trump without showing any willingness to compromise on his far-reaching goals in his war against Ukraine.

Mr. Trump said on July 28 that he would give Moscow 10 to 12 days to end the conflict or face a new round of financial penalties — a deadline that expires soon.

Asked on Wednesday whether he was still considering sanctioning countries like China that buy Russian energy, Mr. Trump said the United States would “be doing quite a bit of that,” but suggested that Mr. Witkoff’s visit would determine the next steps.

“We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re going to see what happens. We’ll make that determination at that time.”

Erica L. Green contributed reporting from Washington.