Russia Agrees to New Ukraine Talks With U.S.
After nearly three hours with President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready in principle to resume three-way talks with the United States and Ukraine around November 10, possibly in Abu Dhabi. Volodymyr Zelenskyy backed the talks. The Kremlin also said China is preparing for a possible first meeting of the Russian, American and Chinese leaders.
Russia gave its answer on new three-way talks after nearly three hours between President Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy, at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, their ninth meeting.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Russia is ready for the talks around November 10. He said they would focus on a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the war ends and could be held in Abu Dhabi. A U.S. official said the meeting, proposed by Witkoff and Jared Kushner, was accepted by Ukraine in Oslo the day before and by Russia in St. Petersburg. The last U.S.-mediated talks were in February.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine supports the talks and wants them held no later than early November. He told Fox News Ukraine would accept a freeze along the current front line, followed by security guarantees from allies.
The Kremlin also said China, host of next month's Asia-Pacific summit in Shenzhen, is preparing for a possible first meeting of Putin, Trump and Xi Jinping. Russia has given no sign of dropping its demands, including all of Ukraine's Donbas region.
St. Petersburg, Russia — Russia is ready in principle to resume three-way talks with the United States and Ukraine on ending the war, the Kremlin said after President Vladimir Putin met Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy.
"Our President informed Steve Witkoff that, in principle, Russia is ready to resume the trilateral talks around the 10th of November to discuss the main issue," Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters. "This concerns the establishment of a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the conflict." He later said on Russian state television that the talks could take place in Abu Dhabi, and that Witkoff said Trump "would undoubtedly welcome such a decision."
The meeting
Witkoff and Putin met for nearly three hours at the Constantine Palace, with Ushakov and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev at the table. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, joined by video. It was Witkoff's ninth in-person meeting with Putin. He came from Oslo, where he had met Zelenskyy and the leaders of Norway and Finland a day earlier, and told Putin he had brought "some ideas, some sort of peace deal between Russia and Ukraine."
A U.S. official said the trilateral meeting Witkoff and Kushner proposed was "accepted by the Ukrainians in Oslo yesterday and by the Russians in St. Petersburg today." Witkoff called both meetings "constructive" and said "there is still important work left to do."
Ushakov said Witkoff described new elements in the European and Ukrainian positions but that "there was little in them that could help resolve the Ukraine crisis." The last U.S.-mediated peace talks took place in February, before the United States and Israel went to war with Iran.
Kyiv's answer
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had heard that Russia supports a meeting of the negotiating teams. "The American side has proposed holding it as soon as possible and we support that," he said, adding that it should happen "no later than early November." He said Ukraine supports "any proposals for a ceasefire, an end to the war, an energy ceasefire as well as humanitarian initiatives." He told Fox News that Ukraine would accept a freeze along the current front line and then seek security guarantees. "Russia said many times it is ready for a meeting and then things changed and got cancelled," he said. "Let's see what happens this time."
A possible three-leader meeting
The Kremlin said a possible meeting of Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, next month was discussed, and that none of the three capitals had rejected the idea. "Our Chinese friends, who are hosting the APEC summit, will handle – or, rather, are already handling – the preparations," Ushakov said. Zelenskyy said: "Don't speak about us without us, please."
The two sides also discussed Russian diesel exports to the United States under a deal Putin and Trump reached on October 9, possible Russian fertilizer sales to American farmers, and Iran. Russia has shown no sign of dropping its demands, which include all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.