Russia says trilateral Ukraine peace talks could resume after Nov. 10

Witkoff calls meetings constructive; Peskov says talks would take a long time

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russian officials would be ready after Nov. 10 to resume trilateral negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States. His announcement followed several hours of talks between Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday.

Witkoff had also participated in a summit on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. In a social media post, Witkoff said both meetings were “constructive.” He said he spoke with Putin to “discuss a peace framework.”

TASS, the Russian state news agency, reported that Putin aide Yury Ushakov said in a briefing that Russia was “ready in principle” to resume talks. Ushakov said the talks would be about “building a security system for Russia and Ukraine.”

CNN reported there was no sign that Russia had budged on any of its demands on Ukraine. Other Russian officials said progress toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine was “theoretically possible,” but would require Ukraine to make “necessary decisions.” The officials said that if Ukraine did not make those decisions, the situation for the country “will be worse.”

Russian news agencies reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would study Witkoff’s proposals on the war, but that talks would take a long time. Witkoff wrote that talks would continue “at the technical level.”

State media also reported that officials told Witkoff talks among Russia, the United States and China on Ukraine were “possible,” an idea U.S. President Donald Trump had mentioned. Zelensky said he would oppose that format. “There can be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said. “If it’s about Ukraine and our future, it can only be acceptable when we are at the table of negotiations.”

Witkoff also thanked Putin for releasing American Stephen Hubbard, who had been held in a Russian prison for more than four years. After the meeting, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev told media that Russia and the United States would continue economic cooperation and that a recent diesel fuel deal would continue.

Building on a June 14 report by Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov that Trump was prepared to help end the war, Witkoff has since met Putin, Russia has said trilateral talks could resume after Nov. 10, and technical discussions are set to continue. CNN reported no sign that Russia had budged on its demands on Ukraine, while state media said a Russia-U.S.-China negotiating format was possible.