Russia ‘ready’ to resume trilateral talks but cool on Ukraine deal

Saint Petersburg: President Vladimir Putin met with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Constantine Palace, as reported by EPA Images. The encounter took place after Putin freed American citizen Stephen Hubbard, who had been detained. US President Donald Trump hailed the meeting as the closest the nation has come to ending the war, while Witkoff lauded Putin as a humanitarian for Hubbard's release.

However, the Kremlin downplayed the prospects of a Ukraine deal, stating that the Ukrainian and European peace proposals brought by Witkoff lacked substance. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was in principle ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US in mid-November, after the US midterm elections.

The talks would focus on post-war security. A summit between Putin, Trump, and China's Xi Jinping was also planned in China's Shenzhen for the following month. During the three-hour meeting, Witkoff praised Putin for Trump's request to release Hubbard and expressed gratitude for the diesel deal. Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine continued, with Russian strikes killing at least four people, including two in the capital Kyiv and an elderly couple in eastern Kharkiv.