Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is willing to resume trilateral negotiations with Ukraine and the United States to seek a way out of the war, in a new diplomatic move that could pave the way for talks in November.
The announcement came after a nearly three-hour meeting in St. Petersburg with Steve Witkoff, special envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump, who had met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo the previous day.
The initiative comes at one of the most delicate moments in relations between Kyiv and Washington since Trump returned to the White House. Disagreements over the strategy for ending the conflict, the supply of defensive weapons, and the concessions Ukraine should accept have heightened distrust between the two governments.
Although Zelenskyy supports resuming diplomatic contacts, statements by both leaders highlight differences over the conditions for reaching an agreement and the role the United States should play.
Russia signals willingness to resume Ukraine peace talks
Russia’s willingness to negotiate was confirmed Wednesday by Yuri Ushakov, an adviser on foreign policy to the Kremlin, following the meeting between Putin and Witkoff. According to the official, the Russian president said Moscow was prepared, in principle, to resume trilateral talks in mid-November, with the aim of discussing the establishment of a security framework for Russia and Ukraine once the conflict ends.
During the meeting, Witkoff briefed Putin on his talks in Oslo with Zelenskyy and European leaders. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and one of Washington’s representatives involved in diplomatic efforts, also participated in the meeting remotely.
However, the Kremlin made clear that it does not consider the proposals put forward by Ukraine and its European allies sufficient. Ushakov argued that the latest proposals from Kyiv and the European Union offered few useful elements for resolving the crisis. Moscow’s willingness to negotiate, therefore, does not mean it has softened its position on the conditions for ending the war.
A potential return to trilateral talks would mark another attempt to revive diplomacy after previous efforts failed to bring the parties’ positions closer together. The central question will be whether the negotiations can make progress toward a ceasefire and security guarantees acceptable to both countries, or whether they will once again stall over conflicting demands.
President #Putin to Special Envoy @SEPeaceMissions:
I thank you & @realDonaldTrump for the special attention to resolving the crisis in Ukraine.
If we can help resolve this crisis in the Middle East, we will gladly do so. You know our proposals.
https://t.co/MgLg7jrWzO https://t.co/SbrLn8vYB8
— MFA Russia
(@mfa_russia) October 21, 2026
Zelenskyy and Trump clash over peace strategy
Witkoff’s meeting with Putin followed talks the U.S. envoy held Tuesday with Zelenskyy in the Norwegian capital. The Ukrainian president took part in the discussions alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in an effort to explore new options for ending Russia’s invasion, which began in February 2022.
After the meeting, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was not losing the war, although it was losing people and time. His statement reflected his rejection of portraying the military situation as an inevitable defeat and his concern over the human cost of prolonging the conflict.
Tensions with Washington, meanwhile, have continued to rise. Trump has criticized Kyiv for failing to agree to end the war and insisted that the United States and Europe have spent enormous sums of money supporting Ukraine. “Ukraine has to want to make a deal to end the conflict,” the U.S. president said, adding that his country had given a great deal without receiving anything in return.
Zelenskyy, for his part, has questioned recent decisions by the Trump administration that he considers detrimental to Ukraine’s defense. These include Kyiv’s reported delays in the delivery of Patriot interceptor missiles purchased through a program funded by allied countries, as well as the lifting of restrictions on Russian diesel exports.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that a delivery might have been delayed but denied that there had been a deliberate political decision to deny Ukraine weapons. The temporary suspension of military intelligence sharing had also raised concerns in Kyiv, although Zelenskyy later confirmed that the cooperation had resumed.
Negotiations without guarantees of a deal
Despite their differences, Zelenskyy has reiterated that Ukraine is willing to support initiatives that could end the war on dignified terms. The Ukrainian leader also expressed support for the proposal to resume trilateral talks and backed the possibility of moving toward a ceasefire, including measures to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
The main obstacle remains the gap between Moscow’s demands and the conditions Kyiv considers acceptable. Putin’s willingness to resume contacts is a diplomatic signal, but it guarantees neither concrete progress nor an immediate commitment to halt the fighting.
The meeting planned for November will also test Washington’s ability to maintain its role as a mediator while seeking to pressure Ukraine into negotiations and restore avenues for cooperation with Russia.
Kyiv will seek to prevent the diplomatic rapprochement from translating into concessions that jeopardize its security. Meanwhile, Moscow will seek to capitalize on the opening in relations with the United States to pursue a negotiated end to the war on terms even more favorable to its annexationist ambitions in eastern Ukraine, parts of which it has occupied since the war began in 2022.