Putin, Witkoff meet in Russia for Ukraine war talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Witkoff, who recently met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway, brought ideas for a potential peace deal. Witkoff touched down in Putin's hometown of St Petersburg, where he informed the Russian leader that he had brought "some ideas, some sort of peace deal between Russia and Ukraine."

Putin expressed gratitude for Trump's efforts to resolve the conflict and stated his eagerness to learn about the US meeting with Zelensky. Witkoff hoped that trilateral talks could resume, and he urged Putin to consider the next steps in the peace process. Putin thanked Trump for his attention to the conflict and emphasized the necessity of ending the war.

The war has resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides and thousands of civilian deaths. Witkoff described his talks with Zelensky as "productive" and expressed hope that Wednesday's talks would be another step forward in resolving the Ukrainian conflict. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is also set to participate in the talks with Putin remotely.

Earlier, Russia announced that it would begin shipping diesel to the United States under a deal reached with Trump, and that it had released US citizen Stephen Hubbard, who had been held in Moscow since the start of the war on allegations of fighting as a "mercy" for Ukraine.