The key facts
- Witkoff held three-hour talks with Putin in St. Petersburg and called them constructive
- Earlier, talks took place in Oslo with Zelensky, Stubb, and Støre
- The Kremlin allows for the resumption of trilateral expert consultations in Abu Dhabi in early November
Witkoff on the outcome of the meeting with Putin
US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff called the talks with Vladimir Putin constructive, but, according to him, much work remains to be done in the process of settling the situation in Ukraine. “While important tasks still lie ahead, President Trump remains as committed as ever to achieving a comprehensive and durable peace that will end this war and ensure security and prosperity for future generations,” Witkoff said.
Route of the talks
On October 20, talks took place in Oslo between US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. After that, Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg for a meeting with Putin, then returned to Norway, where he spoke about the outcome of the three-hour talks with the Russian president.
Possible consultations in Abu Dhabi
The Kremlin called the talks productive and said that in early November another round of trilateral consultations on Ukraine at the expert level may take place in Abu Dhabi. The last such meetings were held in February.
Content of the meeting
The practical content of the meeting was not the announcement of a ready-made agreement, but the handover to the Russian side of documents reflecting approaches to settling the conflict and a discussion of the likelihood of resuming trilateral consultations between Russia, the US, and Ukraine. It was reported that their next stage may take place in Abu Dhabi at the expert level and will be devoted to technical issues.
Experience of the January format and obstacles
In January 2026, a similar format made it possible to simultaneously discuss security, political, and economic issues, and the participation of American representatives was supposed to reduce the risk of the talks collapsing. At the same time, the working groups in Abu Dhabi avoided the main political aspects of the settlement: at that time there was no progress on the territorial issue, and the question of withdrawing Ukrainian troops from Donbas was not considered. The main obstacle on the path from technical consultations to agreements remains the mismatch of the parties' positions: Moscow maintains tough demands, while Kyiv sharply rejects them.
