Russia, Ukraine and the US set for November peace talks

Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States are planned to resume in November in the United Arab Emirates, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Russia indicated its readiness to resume the talks, which have been at a standstill since the beginning of the year, following a meeting this week in Saint Petersburg between President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The next round of talks towards ending the Ukraine war, which is grinding through its fifth year, are "planned for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi", and "will take place in a trilateral format", Peskov told reporters.

The announcement came amid intensified diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump's administration, with Witkoff first meeting on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo, before meeting with Putin on Wednesday.

Following the meetings, both Kyiv and Moscow voiced their readiness to resume direct talks mediated by Washington. Russia, which launched its full-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, has suggested talks could take place "around November 10", while Zelensky has called for the discussions to happen "as soon as possible".

In a televised interview aired late Thursday, Putin meanwhile said that any trilateral talks would focus on the security arrangements of a final peace deal and not a "short" truce.