Witkoff Meets Putin Over Ukraine Peace Plan After Oslo Talks

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday in an attempt to advance proposals for ending the war in Ukraine and establish a framework for direct negotiations involving Washington, Moscow and Kyiv.

The October 21 meeting followed talks between Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway a day earlier, where U.S. officials reported progress on a possible peace framework.

Washington Proposes Trilateral Negotiations

Witkoff called on Putin to consider reopening a negotiating format bringing together the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, with technical aspects of a potential settlement among the issues to be addressed.

The envoy raised the outcome of Tuesday's Oslo discussions during the opening exchanges at Constantine Palace, where both delegations met before continuing talks behind closed doors.

“I think there’s some degree of momentum, and I hope that this today can be another step forward in the peace process and discussing how we resolve the Ukrainian conflict,” Witkoff said.

Washington is seeking to use the proposals developed with Kyiv and European partners to move toward direct three-way negotiations and potentially wider multilateral discussions.

The Kremlin has previously resisted trilateral meetings, although Moscow had proposed hosting Zelensky for talks with Putin, an arrangement regarded as unworkable by the other parties.

Russia Warns Against Expectations for Concessions

Moscow entered the negotiations signaling resistance to major changes in its existing demands.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia would examine Washington's proposals but would not make political concessions.

He also played down expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough and indicated that Moscow continued to regard the U.S. as a geopolitical rival.

European officials expressed similar caution over whether the Russian government would engage seriously with the proposed peace framework.

Zelensky Signals Openness to Front-Line Freeze

Zelensky indicated Wednesday that he could accept a settlement leaving the existing territorial positions unchanged, despite Kyiv's continued opposition to formally surrendering territory to Russia.

During an interview on Fox News, he was asked whether he would accept a peace deal that freezes the conflict along the current lines, regardless of how it began.

Zelensky replied: "Yes."

Putin and Witkoff Discuss Wider US-Russia Relations

Beyond Ukraine, Putin raised the possibility of restoring economic cooperation with Washington and involving China in discussions about the conflict.

The talks also touched on potential Russian fertilizer exports to the U.S. and Moscow's willingness to help resolve the war in Iran.

Another outcome of the meeting was an announcement concerning Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American who had been imprisoned in Russia for more than four years over allegations that he fought as a mercenary in Ukraine.

Witkoff announced that Russia would release Hubbard, and also praised Putin personally for his humanitarian efforts.

"You talk so much about President Trump being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that. I commend you," Witkoff told Putin.