The key facts

  • Putin stated Russia's readiness to resume trilateral talks on Ukraine, with a focus on post-war security for both countries.
  • Ushakov: at the meeting with Witkoff in St. Petersburg, Moscow expressed its principled readiness for talks 'around November 10'.
  • Witkoff reported 'constructive' discussions with Jared Kushner's participation in St. Petersburg and Oslo, to be followed by technical talks.

Readiness to Resume Talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, in an interview with the news outlet Vesti, confirmed Moscow's readiness to resume trilateral talks on the war in Ukraine. According to him, the goal of the talks is to discuss how to ensure the security of both Ukraine and Russia after the conclusion of peace agreements — 'final, long-term' ones, not merely a temporary cessation of hostilities.

Meeting with Witkoff in St. Petersburg

The statement came a day after Putin's meeting with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists that Putin conveyed to Witkoff Moscow's principled readiness to resume trilateral talks 'around November 10', especially on the issue of building a post-war 'security system' for Russia and Ukraine.

European Security Architecture

Putin noted that at the meeting in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Witkoff emphasized the need to discuss a broader European security architecture if the parties want to talk about future security guarantees for Russia and Ukraine. 'I agree with that as well. Well, we'll see how the situation develops in the coming days,' Anadolu quoted Putin as saying.

Witkoff's Assessment and Previous Rounds

Witkoff said on the X platform that he and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner held 'constructive' discussions in St. Petersburg and in the Norwegian capital Oslo (the Oslo meeting took place on Tuesday), and that they will continue with trilateral talks 'at the technical level'. According to Anadolu, Russia and Ukraine last held US-mediated talks earlier this year: three rounds on January 23–24, February 4–5, and February 17–18; the first two took place in Abu Dhabi, the third in Geneva.

Reaction to Zelensky's Remarks on the Front Line

Commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement made on Wednesday in a Fox News interview about his readiness to freeze the front line to end the war, Putin called it 'inappropriate' to describe this as 'any territorial losses'. According to him, 'this is not their territory, this is the territory of historical Russia', and the residents of these territories 'chose' affiliation with Russia in the referendums in September 2022. The referendums were widely condemned by the international community as illegitimate.