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U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg on the morning of Oct. 21 to prepare a new round of peace talks with his Russian counterpart, Kirill Dmitriev.
Witkoff met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies the day before in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to discuss their peace proposals ahead of his meeting in Russia.
This will "possibly pave the way for a meeting at leaders' level," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said at a press conference in Oslo on Oct. 20 after talks with Witkoff and Zelensky.
However, Witkoff's movements are taking place while Kyiv's ties with Washington are sharply deteriorating amid concerns that the U.S. could be withholding the delivery of Patriot air-defense missiles funded by Ukraine's allies, as well as other support.
Zelensky said at the Oct. 20 press conference with Store that he hopes Witkoff will take the peace proposals put forward by Ukraine and Europe to Russia, and "move to a trilateral meeting of the leaders, to address the issues that only the leaders can do."
But Trump already brought that idea into question after reporters in Washington asked him about the prospect of a trilateral meeting.
"They don't have to be in the same room. I guess I can do it another way. It's hard for them to be in the same room. I don't care how it's done," Trump said.
And Russian leader Vladimir Putin has long evaded a meeting with Zelensky. Instead, the Kremlin chief reportedly pushes to meet Trump in China next month to secure a favorable peace deal, without Ukraine at the table.
Witkoff is also reportedly expected to meet Putin in Russia to discuss the possible release of Stephen Hubbard, a 72-year-old American citizen who was reportedly serving with a Ukrainian territorial defense unit in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, when Russian forces detained him in 2022.