Update. Putin and Witkoff will meet at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg in the first half of the day on October 21, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told the Russian news agency Interfax. The main topic of the talks will be a peace settlement. “I don’t know whether there will be any agreement today, but talks on the Ukrainian conflict are, naturally, the main part of today’s contacts,” he said.
Special U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in St. Petersburg, the Russian state news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti reported.
Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s special representative, met Witkoff at Pulkovo Airport. Their motorcade soon left the airport grounds.
Witkoff will meet with Putin in St. Petersburg. Another American negotiator, Jared Kushner, is also expected to join the meeting by video link.
Trump’s negotiators met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo on October 20, along with representatives of European countries. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced afterward that Witkoff would discuss with Putin “proposals that have been worked on by European and American colleagues, and possibly pave the way for a meeting at leaders’ level.” According to Politico, Witkoff will offer Putin direct talks with Trump and Zelensky.
Axios reported, citing a White House official, that Witkoff would present Putin with an updated plan for ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
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