Washington’s envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Saint Petersburg early Wednesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin following what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as “positive” talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
The trip by President Donald Trump’s special envoy is part of efforts to draw a line under a bitter feud between him and Zelensky over the war with Russia.
After talks with Witkoff in Oslo, Zelensky thanked Washington on Tuesday for the resumption of US intelligence sharing on Russian strikes.
The positive tone followed days of friction between Kyiv and Washington after Trump struck a diesel-supply deal with Putin and called for Zelensky to be replaced after Ukraine refused to stop hitting Russian oil refineries.
“We are thankful that intelligence works,” Zelensky told reporters in Oslo, describing the early warnings as “very, very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians” when ballistic missiles were about to strike.
Rubio said during a visit to India that Witkoff would next head to Russia after the “positive” talks with Zelensky
“He’ll now, armed with those ideas, be able to go to Saint Petersburg and share them with the Russian side -- and let’s see if we can make some progress,” Rubio said.
Witkoff’s planned meeting with Putin on Wednesday would include Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner participating virtually, a US official told AFP.
Trump’s envoy was met at Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg by the Kremlin’s adviser for international economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, according to news agencies.
Make a deal
Trump said Tuesday that he had asked Putin to release Stephen Hubbard, an American taken captive by Russian forces years earlier in Ukraine, though it was not clear if the request would be raised in Wednesday’s talks.
“I’ve been talking to him at length. I’ve asked him to release him. Let’s see what happens,” Trump told journalists in Washington.
Trump has also been keeping up the pressure on Ukraine, saying at the White House that he wanted Zelensky to “make a deal” with Russia, which is ramping up its strikes as a bitter winter looms.
Trump, who called on Zelensky to resign last week, also criticised the Ukrainian president for not accepting terms he said he had offered during an infamous televised row in the Oval Office in February 2025.
Ukraine reacted with dismay after Trump also waived sanctions against Russia’s war machine.
The feud spiralled as Zelensky accused Trump of weakness, and then alleged that the United States was deliberately withholding vital intelligence and delaying the delivery of interceptor missiles.
Ukraine has also reported a reduction in speeds on Starshield, the US military satellite system it uses for battlefield communications and strikes on Russian-occupied territory.
Trump has denied ordering a reduction in speeds on Starshield after Elon Musk -- whose company SpaceX developed it -- said the order could only have come from the White House.
Rubio said Wednesday that Washington had no prior knowledge of the slowdown of the SpaceX satellite communications.
“The president has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk,” Rubio said in Mumbai.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that it was indeed Musk who ordered the slowdown in the military-grade version of Starlink.
‘Our future’
Witkoff’s meetings follow furious diplomatic efforts in Washington, Kyiv and Western capitals to calm the row.
Zelensky told US senators on Monday that “the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles” already paid for by European countries, while the shipment was waiting for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s signature.
Several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were awaiting US approval, he said.
Trump, whose Republican Party faces tough midterm elections as fuel prices soar, has accused Zelensky of a lack of effort to resolve the conflict.
He said he was ready to meet Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China next month to discuss denuclearisation, adding that talks could also cover the Ukraine war -- sparking fears in Kyiv that it was being sidelined.
Zelensky insisted Tuesday that Kyiv needed to be represented at any meeting regarding Ukraine’s future.
“If there are issues about Ukraine, our future, it can be acceptable only when we are at the table of negotiations,” he said.