Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as early as next month, following a high-level meeting in St. Petersburg with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The nearly three-hour negotiations at the Constantine Palace marked Witkoff's ninth in-person meeting with Putin. The discussions opened with a diplomatic goodwill gesture from Moscow: the release of 74-year-old retired American schoolteacher Stephen Hubbard, who had been imprisoned in Russia for over four years after being captured in occupied eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin announced that technical-level trilateral talks could begin on or after November 10, potentially hosted in Abu Dhabi. These sessions are expected to focus heavily on long-term security guarantees for both Ukraine and Russia following the cessation of hostilities.
While the US delegation reported that recent talks in Oslo involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European representatives showed a "degree of momentum" with new proposals, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov noted that certain nuances "do not entirely satisfy us."
During the St. Petersburg meeting, Putin and Witkoff also discussed potential broader geopolitical cooperation, including Russian assistance regarding Iran's nuclear program, fertilizer supplies for US farmers, and preparations for a historic multi-nation meeting in China next month involving Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The renewed diplomatic push comes amid recent friction in US-Ukrainian relations, compounded by policy disputes over energy agreements, intelligence sharing, and satellite communication infrastructure. Despite these tensions, Washington and Kyiv continue navigating framework proposals aimed at bringing an end to the conflict.
