Putin tells Witkoff Russia is 'in principle' ready to resume three-way talks with the US and Ukraine around 10 November; Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard

Russian President Vladimir Putin met US special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Constantine Palace in St Petersburg on Wednesday 21 October, a day after Witkoff’s talks in Oslo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European officials. Presidential aide Yury Ushakov and envoy Kirill Dmitriev attended on the Russian side, the Kremlin said, and Jared Kushner joined by video link, AP reported, citing Ushakov.

After the meeting, which lasted about three hours, Ushakov said Putin had told Witkoff that Russia was “in principle” ready to resume trilateral negotiations with the United States and Ukraine “around the 10th of November”, Axios and AP reported. He told Vesti the talks could take place in Abu Dhabi and would focus on a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict, according to TASS and AP. Ushakov also said the Oslo talks contained little of use for resolving the conflict, Axios reported.

A US official told Axios and AP that Witkoff and Kushner had proposed a technical-level three-way meeting, which “was accepted by the Ukrainians in Oslo yesterday and by the Russians in St. Petersburg today”. Witkoff told Putin he had brought “several documents” on approaches to a settlement, Axios reported.

At the start of the meeting, Putin said US citizen Stephen Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport, according to the Kremlin transcript. Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher, had spent more than four years in Russian custody on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, The Guardian reported. “You are a humanitarian also, sir,” Witkoff told Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no further Putin–Witkoff contacts had been agreed for the coming days, RIA Novosti reported.

See also: After Oslo talks, Zelensky says Ukraine backs US energy ceasefire proposal.