Russia, Ukraine and the United States have agreed to resume trilateral peace negotiations at the level of technical negotiating teams in early to mid-November, in what would be the first round of three-way talks since February and a notable reopening of a diplomatic channel that had been dormant for months.
The agreement emerged from a round of shuttle diplomacy by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders in Oslo before travelling to St. Petersburg, where he and Jared Kushner held nearly three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace on Wednesday, October 21.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov described the discussion as "substantive and frank" and said Moscow was prepared in principle to restart the negotiations, with talks possible on or after November 10. Zelenskiy said he supports the U.S. proposal for trilateral talks at negotiators' level as soon as possible and hopes the meeting will take place no later than early November. Abu Dhabi has been mentioned as a possible venue, although no final joint announcement on the date or location has been made.
According to Ushakov, the main subject would be the long-term security architecture for both Russia and Ukraine once the fighting ends — the guarantees each side would have in a post-conflict settlement. That is a significant agenda, but agreeing to discuss a framework is not the same as agreeing on its terms: the two sides remain divided over territorial demands, security guarantees and the conditions of any settlement, and Ushakov acknowledged that certain nuances in the current proposals "do not entirely satisfy us."
The St. Petersburg meeting also produced a goodwill gesture. On its sidelines, Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American schoolteacher who had been detained in 2022 in occupied eastern Ukraine and imprisoned for more than four years. Witkoff publicly thanked Putin for the release. Ushakov also said Putin asked the envoy to convey his appreciation to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump for her humanitarian initiatives aimed at reuniting children with their families.
Economic issues ran alongside the diplomacy. Putin confirmed that a Russian-U.S. fuel supply deal struck with President Donald Trump is moving forward, with a first tanker carrying 40,000 tonnes of Russian diesel set to depart for the United States within days — a deal whose announcement alone, he said, knocked 5 to 6 percent off global diesel prices. He also signalled that Russia could supply fertilisers to the American market in large quantities, and the two sides discussed possible Russian assistance regarding Iran's nuclear programme and preparations for a multi-nation meeting in China next month involving Trump, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The proposed November round would restart a format that has been inactive since February, after earlier attempts to resume negotiations broke down. Whether it amounts to more than a procedural reopening depends on the gaps that remain: territory, the shape of security guarantees for Ukraine, and whether European governments — whose representatives took part in the Oslo consultations — will have a seat or a say in any eventual framework, a point Moscow says depends on Europe's own position.
Diplomats caution that agreeing to talk is the easiest step in the process, and that fighting on the front line has continued even as the diplomatic track revives. The coming weeks will show whether a firm date and venue are set for November, what level of delegation each side sends, and whether the security-framework agenda produces anything more concrete than opening positions.
Reporting based on Reuters and statements from the Kremlin and Ukrainian officials.