Speaking at the White House on 21 October, Trump said he had spoken with Putin in the days before and that talks had never been this close, though earlier claims of this kind produced no concrete progress.
Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin on 21 October for three hours, after talks in Oslo on 20 October with European leaders and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Yuri Ushakov said Moscow is ready to resume trilateral talks with Kyiv and Washington around 10 November, after the US midterm elections, though not immediately.
Russia released Stephen Hubbard, announced on 21 October, and Trump thanked Moscow and said the United States gave nothing in exchange.
Zelensky proposed halting fighting along current positions as a first step, while Ushakov said the Oslo proposals contained little of substance.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, 21 October, Donald Trump said the end of the war in Ukraine was nearer than ever. He said he had spoken with Vladimir Putin in the days before about settling the war and that perhaps the two sides had never been this close. Trump also thanked Moscow for releasing Stephen Hubbard, an American who had been held in Russia for four years, and said the United States gave nothing in exchange. Earlier optimistic statements of this kind have not been followed by concrete progress, and Russia has kept its demands unchanged.
The US envoy Steve Witkoff met European leaders and Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo on 20 October. On 21 October he met Putin in St Petersburg for three hours, a meeting described as detailed and frank. Jared Kushner took part by video link, although he had the flu. Witkoff thanked Putin for Hubbard's release, announced on Wednesday, and praised him in strong terms, calling him a humanist. Several US lawmakers criticised those remarks, and Witkoff is due to fly back to the United States with Hubbard after a stop in Oslo, where he is to consult Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who is also mediating.
Russia and Ukraine have both declared willingness to hold trilateral negotiations under US mediation. Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov said Moscow is ready to resume talks with Kyiv and Washington, but not immediately, around 10 November and after the US midterm elections. Zelensky supports a meeting but wants it held as soon as possible, and he has argued that fighting should stop along the current front lines as a first step toward negotiations. Ushakov dismissed the proposals from Kyiv and European capitals presented in Oslo as containing little of substance, which signals that the two sides remain far apart.
Trump said he was satisfied that Russia had not become involved in supporting Iran, a country with which the United States has been at war since February, a conflict that has grown increasingly unpopular at home. According to advisers cited by The Atlantic, Trump wants the G20 summit in Miami to become a ceremony for signing a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, and he intends to invite Putin. Zelensky has confirmed he will attend the G20 and said he is willing to negotiate directly with Putin. The same report says Trump's rush to reach a deal by December could push Ukraine to accept Moscow's terms instead of a fair negotiation.
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Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on 21 October, and Moscow said it is ready to resume trilateral talks around 10 November, after the US midterm elections.
AI text based on reports by Notícias ao Minuto, El Confidencial, adevarul.ro and other publishers. Published .