The key facts
- Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Saint Petersburg on October 21 and handed over documents outlining approaches to a peaceful settlement.
- Witkoff proposed bringing Jared Kushner in by phone, who had prepared several ideas for Putin.
- Kushner declined a personal trip to Russia due to illness, while retaining the option of remote participation.
Meeting in Saint Petersburg and the proposal for a phone call
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on October 21. According to him, the American delegation brought documents outlining approaches to a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and asked the Russian president to review them later. In addition, Witkoff proposed bringing Jared Kushner — Trump's son-in-law — into the conversation by phone; Kushner had prepared several ideas and wanted to personally present them to Putin. “We brought some documents outlining approaches to a peaceful settlement. I would ask you to review these documents later. But I would like to bring Mr. Kushner in by phone, who wanted to present several ideas to you,” Life.ru quoted Witkoff as saying.
Context: consultations with Kyiv and European countries
The meeting was preceded by a series of consultations by the American side with Kyiv. On October 18, Volodymyr Zelensky discussed further steps toward a peaceful settlement with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and on October 20 the talks continued in Oslo with the participation of representatives of European countries. According to Axios, the parties managed to make progress in agreeing on proposals for Moscow. Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that individual elements of the future peace agreement would be presented in Saint Petersburg.
Plans and previous contacts
Initially it was assumed that Kushner would personally travel to Russia, but he declined the trip due to illness, retaining the option of remote participation. According to Politico, Witkoff may propose to Putin organizing a trilateral meeting with Donald Trump and Zelensky. Earlier, on September 5, Witkoff and Kushner had already spent more than three hours in talks with the Russian president in the Kremlin.
