The key facts
- Steve Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg on October 21 for talks with Putin
- Ushakov: the Ukrainian conflict is the main topic of the contact
- Kushner was unable to come due to illness; before the trip Witkoff met with Zelensky in Oslo
The main topic is the Ukrainian settlement
US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg on October 21 for talks with Vladimir Putin. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said the central topic of the meeting would be resolving the conflict in Ukraine. “Talks on the Ukrainian conflict are, naturally, the main part of today’s contact,” Life.ru quoted the Kremlin representative as saying. According to him, the meeting was agreed upon several days ago.
Circumstances of the visit
Before traveling to Russia, Witkoff met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo. In St. Petersburg, the American representative was greeted by the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev. Jared Kushner, who was also supposed to take part in the talks, was unable to come due to illness.
Previous visit
Witkoff’s previous visit to Russia took place on September 5. At that time, he and Kushner spent more than three hours in the Kremlin: the sides discussed ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and prospects for Russian-American economic cooperation. Ushakov called that meeting constructive, but no specific agreements were reported.
