Putin Agrees in Principle to Restart Ukraine Peace Talks With Witkoff in St. Petersburg

Putin Agrees in Principle to Restart Ukraine Peace Talks With Witkoff in St. Petersburg

Three hours at the Constantine Palace

US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg on October 21, the ninth face-to-face meeting between the two men, according to TASS and RFE/RL. The Kremlin's Yury Ushakov said the conversation was "substantive and candid and lasted nearly three hours." Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev and presidential aide Yury Ushakov sat in on the Russian side. It had been a scheduled meeting, agreed several days earlier.

Kushner joined by video from home

Ushakov said Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, had been expected to attend but was unable to travel for health reasons; a videoconference link was arranged so he could share his assessments. Witkoff told Putin at the televised opening that he had brought documents containing ideas for a potential peace deal, and that Kushner also wanted to convey ideas of his own.

A retired teacher walks free

The meeting opened with a Russian goodwill gesture. Putin announced that Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American schoolteacher from Michigan, had been released. Reuters reported that Hubbard was arrested by Russian authorities in April 2022 in Izyum, in eastern Ukraine, and was serving a sentence of six years and ten months after a closed-door conviction for mercenary activity. He had been the only US prisoner held by Russia whom Washington designated as "wrongfully detained."

No concession, Trump says

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had asked Putin by phone the previous week to free Hubbard, adding that "the United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return — an unprecedented situation for Russia." The Trump administration had already lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports, which Witkoff thanked Putin for at the start of the talks, saying it would help reduce prices for American farmers and truckers.

Kyiv's terms have not moved

According to the Associated Press, Zelensky said the agenda of the latest contacts covered future security guarantees for Ukraine, the fate of occupied territories, postwar reconstruction and the possibility of a ceasefire, and that freezing the conflict was the minimum Russia had to accept. The day before the Putin meeting, on October 20, Witkoff met Zelensky in Oslo together with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, plus representatives of the EU, NATO, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland, with Kushner joining remotely. The two envoys had also spoken with Zelensky by phone on October 18.

"In principle" is the operative word

Ushakov told reporters afterward that Putin had informed Witkoff that "in principle, Russia is ready to resume the trilateral talks around the 10th of November," with the main topic being the establishment of a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends. Asked about the Oslo talks, Ushakov said the new approaches from Europe and Kyiv contained "little in them that could help resolve the Ukraine crisis." The Kremlin announced only a resumption in principle — no confirmed date and no venue.

Abu Dhabi remains the candidate host

Reuters reported that the new three-way talks would be held at technical level, could take place in Abu Dhabi and might begin on or after November 10. The last US-mediated round took place in February, before the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran. Witkoff described the Oslo meeting as "productive," adding that "there is some degree of momentum."

Trade and Iran come upPutin said he was ready to discuss prospects for restoring US-Russian economic ties and was prepared to discuss the US-led conflict with Iran, offering to use Moscow's relationship with Tehran to help bring peace. Ushakov said large-scale joint economic projects "are, in fact, nearing the implementation stage."

The APEC summit in Shenzhen

Ushakov said Putin and Witkoff also addressed the possibility of a first-ever meeting between the leaders of Russia, China and the United States on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen in November, which China, hosting the summit, is preparing.

Kyiv is hit hours after the agreement

Within hours of the announcement, Russia bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missiles and drones. The Guardian reported that Zelensky said Russian "humanitarians" launched three waves of ballistic missiles at the city from the previous evening, using 21 missiles, and that the overnight attack killed at least two people and wounded 22, including four children. RBC-Ukraine reported that210 attack drones were launched at Ukraine during the same night, alongside the missiles.

Diplomacy and warfare run in parallel

The Associated Press reported that Ukrainian strikes set an oil export terminal and a depot ablaze in St. Petersburg on October 18 as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of its largest aerial attacks of the war. Bloomberg reported that Moscow currently controls about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. Trump, meanwhile, continued to press Kyiv to make a deal, while the Kremlin insisted the two sides remain far apart.

The gap is still wide

What the St. Petersburg meeting produced was a released American and a conditional promise to talk again. Russia set no ceasefire, offered no concession on territory, and the Kremlin confirmed no date for a leaders' meeting. Zelensky's demand for security guarantees and a frozen front line was not answered in the room, and the strikes that followed showed that the military calendar is setting the pace.