St Petersburg: United States special envoy Steve Witkoff engaged in high-stakes talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in St. Petersburg. The aim of the meeting was to advance proposals to end the war in Ukraine and establish a pathway towards broader negotiations.
As reported by CNN, the diplomatic outreach came on the heels of Witkoff's Tuesday summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway, following which video footage captured the US envoy confirming that reviewing the outcomes of that "productive" Oslo summit remained central to the agenda.
"I think there's some degree of momentum, and I hope that this today can be another step forward in the peace process and discussing how we resolve the Ukrainian conflict," the Trump administration envoy stated.
During the gathering, Witkoff further urged Putin to consider resuming trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine talks to address outstanding technical issues. In response, Putin conveyed enthusiasm regarding restoring economic cooperation with the United States alongside the prospect of engaging China in discussions concerning Ukraine.
A breakthrough emerging from the diplomatic engagement involved Witkoff announcing that Moscow had agreed to release 74-year-old American prisoner Stephen Hubbard, who had endured over four years of detention in the country.
Seated around a large round table alongside translators, Putin and Witkoff addressed an expansive agenda encompassing Russia's potential assistance in resolving the war in Iran, prospective Russian fertiliser exports to the United States, and the release of Hubbard. Proceedings subsequently transitioned behind closed doors, with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law involved in peace mediation, participating remotely due to suffering from the flu.
According to a US official cited by CNN, Washington and Kyiv achieved "meaningful progress" during the Norway talks on Tuesday. Ukrainian delegations reportedly introduced fresh proposals that underwent rigorous evaluation, leaving both administrations in "strong alignment" regarding subsequent operational phases.
"Discussions covered key elements of a comprehensive peace framework, including long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic and prosperity plan, and a broader European security architecture designed to create lasting stability," the US official detailed.
Kyiv and its Western allies reaffirmed non-negotiable red lines governing any future peace negotiations, emphasising mandatory security safeguards to deter renewed Russian incursions alongside a total refusal to cede sovereign territory.
Conversely, Moscow has persisted in demanding that Ukraine surrender the entirety of the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region, currently under predominant Russian occupation, drastically downsize its armed forces, and formally renounce future NATO membership.
"We have some clear ideas on how to get to peace, and we are united with our European partners in this effort. And we want the Americans to take these ideas to the Russians," Zelensky remarked on Tuesday. "Let's see what Putin has to say."
"Much depends on whether the American side will hear something new from Russia today, about peace, rather than the continuation of the war," Zelensky reiterated on Wednesday following consultations with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
Reflecting on the preceding dialogue with Ukrainian counterparts, the US official emphasised a shared dedication among negotiating teams to securing pragmatic solutions to end the war, despite documented friction between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump.
"The goal is to build on the progress made with Ukraine and Europe, discuss the proposals with Russia, and create a pathway towards direct trilateral and broader multilateral negotiations," the official added.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov adopted a cautious posture on Tuesday, cautioning that Moscow would evaluate Witkoff's proposals while explicitly refusing to offer "political concessions". According to Russian state media TASS, Lavrov noted that Moscow did "not expect a miracle" and anticipated that Washington would remain a rival to Russia "at best".
Weighing in on the diplomatic impasse, a European official in Oslo told CNN, "I think plans, or lack of, isn't as much of a problem as getting Russia to treat any plan seriously."