A key diplomatic development has emerged in efforts to resolve the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, after a high-stakes meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg. According to top Putin aide Yuriy Ushakov, Moscow is prepared in principle to resume suspended trilateral peace talks involving Russia, the United States, and Ukraine, with a new round potentially scheduled as early as next month.
The three-party talks aimed at ending the full-scale conflict that Russia launched in February 2022 were halted back in February of this year. The Kremlin has attributed the suspension to large-scale Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory carried out last month. Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly pushed for an immediate restart of the negotiations to move toward a ceasefire and long-term resolution.
Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg fresh off a multi-stop regional tour that included meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as the heads of state of Norway and Finland, all held earlier this week. Ushakov noted in a press briefing after the closed-door talks that the ideas brought forward from those engagements were not particularly useful for advancing negotiation progress.
When speaking with reporters following the three-hour meeting between Putin and Witkoff, Ushakov outlined a tentative timeline for the next negotiating round, suggesting it could convene around November 10. He further emphasized that any renewed talks must center on one core priority: establishing a lasting and viable security framework for both Russia and Ukraine that will take effect once the conflict comes to an end.