A fresh diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine could take shape within weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin signalled he is prepared to restart three-way talks with the United States and Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.
Putin has agreed “in principle” to reconvene the negotiations after 10 November, his foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters after Putin met in St Petersburg with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff.
The next round would centre on “building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends”, Ushakov said.
Witkoff’s discussions with Putin on Russia’s full-scale invasion came as Trump intensifies efforts to press Kyiv toward an agreement that would halt the fighting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, has argued that only a leaders’ summit can break the deadlock.
On the ground, neither side is easing up: the two armies remain locked in combat while Russia and Ukraine continue trading daily long-range strikes.
Vladimir Putin greets Steve Witkoff ahead of their meeting in St Petersburg
Earlier this year, representatives from Russia, the United States and Ukraine held three rounds of talks — twice in Abu Dhabi in January and February, then again in Geneva in February.
Those meetings produced little beyond prisoner-of-war exchanges, with Moscow and Kyiv holding firm to their core demands.
The Kremlin said the St Petersburg session lasted about three hours. It came a day after Witkoff met Zelensky and several European leaders in Oslo.
The ideas emerging from the Oslo meeting “contained little of real value in the context of resolving the Ukrainian crisis”, Ushakov said.
He later added on Russian state TV that although Moscow is not “fully satisfied” with the Oslo proposals, it views them as movement in the right direction.
Witkoff’s itinerary underscored a drive to inject momentum into US-led peacemaking more than four years after the war began. But initiatives by the Trump administration since early last year have not produced a breakthrough.
Zelensky said the minimum step required from Russia to end the war would be freezing the conflict.
“Right now, we have to freeze, and I think this is (the) real way to end this war,” Zelensky said in an interview aired Wednesday on Fox News.
Vladimir Putin, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov (3rd L) and Russia’s presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev (R) attend a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff (2nd R)
Witkoff and Putin met at St Petersburg’s Constantine Palace. Ushakov and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev were also present, while Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner joined via video link, Ushakov said.
Speaking before the talks, Witkoff said “there is some degree of momentum” in the diplomatic process.
He also thanked Putin for agreeing to supply diesel to the United States after Trump lifted a ban — a move that drew criticism from some US politicians — saying the fuel would help bring down costs for American farmers and lorry drivers.
Putin said he was willing to look at restoring US-Russia economic ties and that he was also prepared to discuss the US-led conflict with Iran.
Russia is ready to draw on its relationship with Iran to help advance peace, he said.
Ushakov said he and Witkoff discussed “large-scale joint economic projects that offer significant prospects for co-operation” between Russia and the US.
“Some of these are, in fact, nearing the implementation stage,” he said.
Two people died when a high-rise apartment building in Kyiv was hit by a Russian drone
Separately, Russia freed a retired American teacher who had been jailed on accusations of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.
Witkoff described the release as a possible goodwill gesture from the Kremlin after Trump asked Putin to free Stephen Hubbard.
The Kremlin also said Putin met Chinese premier Li Qiang in St Petersburg, where Li was holding talks with other Russian officials.
Russia has worked to strengthen ties with China, and the two countries last month vetoed a US proposal that would have allowed UN experts to continue monitoring sanctions on Iran.
Ushakov said Putin and Witkoff also raised the prospect of a meeting next month between Russian, Chinese and US leaders on the sidelines of an economic summit in China, adding that Beijing is already preparing.
After leaving Russia, Witkoff intended to head back to Oslo for additional discussions, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said.
“I think we may have entered a phase now where the Russians are also looking for opportunities for diplomacy,” Store told Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Wednesday.
Zelensky remained in Oslo, where he visited Norway’s parliament and met politicians.
Zelensky said the Oslo and St Petersburg talks covered potential security guarantees for Ukraine, the status of occupied territories, post-war rebuilding and the possibility of a ceasefire.
At the White House yesterday, Trump stepped up pressure on Zelensky to reach an agreement with Russia as the relationship between the two leaders has again deteriorated.
“We want Zelensky to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. We’ve gotten absolutely nothing back except grief, death, tremendous monetary loss.”
If that does not happen “I think it’s going to be a very bad thing”, Trump said.
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With concerns growing that Washington could be turning away from Ukraine, Zelensky said Kyiv is again receiving early warnings from partners about incoming Russian missiles, following recent strikes that he said came without sufficient notice from allies.
Overnight Russian attacks on Kyiv killed three people and injured 12, while 10 residential buildings were damaged, the city’s military administration said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said energy facilities were targeted in Kyiv and three other cities in earlier Russian attacks.
Outside the eastern city of Kharkiv, two people were killed and 11 wounded when drones exploded in a residential area, he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces overnight hit a warehouse, an electrical substation and a bulk carrier at sea that was headed toward the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
The Russian Defence Ministry also said its air defences intercepted 373 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions, as well as illegally annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
