Putin and U.S. envoy Witkoff hold talks in St. Petersburg as Washington pushes a new plan to end the war in Ukraine
Steve Witkoff, the U.S. president’s special envoy, flew to St. Petersburg this morning for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, part of a renewed U.S. effort to restart talks on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. Jared Kushner, the U.S. president’s son-in-law, who usually accompanies Witkoff on such trips, did not travel to Russia because of illness but is taking part in the meeting by video link.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, marking a renewed U.S. effort to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, joined the meeting via video link due to illness. At the conference, Witkoff expressed gratitude to Putin for the release of U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard, who was imprisoned for fighting with Ukraine's military.
The talks also featured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and representatives from the EU, NATO, France, the UK, Germany, and Poland. Following the discussions, Støre mentioned advancements on multiple fronts, including air defense, energy facilities, and the potential for a partial ceasefire.
Zelensky emphasized the need for a trilateral meeting involving Trump, Putin, and himself to address issues best resolved by leaders. President Trump, however, stated that Putin and Zelensky don't need to be in the same room for such a meeting. Both the talks in Oslo and the discussions leading up to them focused on drafting a framework agreement to conclude the conflict, which would then be proposed to Russia.
Axios sources reported that the parties achieved real progress and a strong alignment on key steps towards peace.
Written by urgent.news from Meduza (English)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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