Russian President Vladimir Putin has told US envoy Steve Witkoff that Moscow is prepared in principle to resume stalled peace negotiations with Ukraine under US mediation, according to Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.
Speaking after Putin and Witkoff met in St. Petersburg, Ushakov said talks could resume in November, with security issues expected to be a central focus. It remains unclear whether the latest diplomatic efforts will produce concrete progress, as Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on key demands.
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire while continuing its invasion of Ukraine. Russia is demanding full control over territory in the Donetsk region that its forces have failed to capture completely on the battlefield.
This was Witkoff’s ninth visit to Russia for talks with Putin. He and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been leading Washington’s efforts to broker an end to the war.
Before travelling to Russia, Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo. Zelenskyy said Ukraine wanted Washington to present Moscow with a proposal for a potential trilateral meeting involving the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and the United States.
“We want the Americans to convey these ideas to the Russians,” Zelenskyy said, describing a possible leaders’ meeting as a way to address issues that only the presidents themselves could resolve.
Trump has said Putin and Zelenskyy would not necessarily need to meet face-to-face to reach an agreement. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Oslo discussions as positive, saying Witkoff would take the ideas to the Russian side to see whether progress was possible.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb also reported “real progress” in Oslo, including discussions on long-term peace, security and economic issues. Zelenskyy thanked the United States for intelligence support that helps Ukraine warn civilians about incoming Russian ballistic missiles.
Russian strikes kill civilians as diplomacy continues
Even as diplomatic efforts continued, Russian forces launched missiles and drones across Ukraine, killing at least four people, according to Ukrainian authorities.
In Kyiv, a Russian airstrike on Wednesday killed two people, injured two others and damaged a 24-storey residential building, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported. Emergency power outages were also reported in parts of the capital.
In the Kharkiv region, Russian drone attacks killed an 81-year-old woman and an 83-year-old man. In the Lviv region, a drone struck an enterprise, injuring two workers.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched cruise missiles and 186 attack drones overnight. Russia’s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces had targeted Ukrainian logistics centres, port infrastructure and vessels, and claimed that Russian air defences had intercepted and destroyed 373 Ukrainian drones across several Russian regions.
US citizen released from Russian prison
During the Putin-Witkoff meeting, the two sides also confirmed the release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American from Michigan who was captured by Russian forces in April 2022 and accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.
Putin said Hubbard was at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport and would travel to the United States with Witkoff. Trump had previously said he personally asked Putin to release the American.
In 2024, a Russian court sentenced Hubbard to seven years in prison.
The central question remains: Is Moscow genuinely prepared to negotiate a just and lasting peace, or will diplomacy continue alongside military attacks and demands for Ukrainian territory? Resuming talks may open a diplomatic opportunity, but any meaningful progress will depend on whether the parties can bridge their fundamental differences.
