Washington's envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Saint Petersburg to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday following what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as "positive" talks with Ukraine's leader. Russian news agency TASS reported that Witkoff landed in the city in the morning.
The trip by US President Donald Trump's special envoy is part of efforts to draw a line under a bitter feud between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and the US president over the war with Russia.
After talks with Witkoff in the Norwegian capital, Zelensky thanked Washington on Tuesday for the resumption of US intelligence 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.
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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.
US news outlet Axios reported that Witkoff would be presenting Putin with an updated proposal on ending the war.
Witkoff's planned meeting with Putin on Wednesday would include Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner participating virtually, a US official told AFP.
Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who will also take part in the meeting with Putin, was scheduled to meet Witkoff at the airport.
Cut off
Trump said Tuesday 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 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.
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Rubio said Wednesday that Washington had no prior knowledge of the slowing down 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, speaking in Mumbai.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that it was indeed Musk who ordered the slowdown in the military-grade version of Starlink.
Deadly delays
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 Defence 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.
The US president 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.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)