Kremlin 'ready' to resume trilateral peace talks with US, Ukraine, Putin claims
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The Kremlin is ready to resume trilateral peace talks between Russia, the U.S., and Ukraine in mid-November, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed during a meeting with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Oct. 21.
During their meeting, Putin and Witkoff discussed a "specific framework" by which the trilateral talks could take place, according to Russian state media.
"We see that (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump is quite sincere and consistent in his wish to facilitate a peaceful resolution and to set everything on the path toward a peace settlement," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media.
Witkoff's visit to St. Petersburg follows his Oct. 20 meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies in Oslo to discuss peace proposals to pass along to the Kremlin.
Zelensky and Kyiv's European allies backed the resumption of trilateral talks during discussions in Norway.
The diplomatic push comes as Russia has escalated its attacks against Ukraine and inflicted unprecedented civilian casualties.
The U.N. Human Rights Office reported in early October that an average of more than 400 civilians were killed or injured every week in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026, a 55% increase from the same period in 2025.
Leading up to the Witkoff-Putin meeting in St. Petersburg, Trump on Oct. 16 issued a broad waiver of sanctions, adopted under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act.
Trump lashed out online at critics of the move, claiming on Oct. 21 that doing so helped secure the release of U.S. prisoner Stephen Hubbard. After securing Hubbard's release, Witkoff praised Putin as a "humanitarian."
