Ukraine and Russia ready for trilateral talks with US

The Kremlin and Kyiv said on October 21, a day after separate meetings with the American envoy, that they are ready to resume trilateral talks with the United States. After more than a year of US-led negotiations that have produced no breakthrough, the talks on Ukraine may have a new framework. No date has been agreed, though, and the two sides still hold opposing demands.

We have already covered the meeting in St. Petersburg and the release of Stephen Hubbard. This piece is about what came next.

What happened at the Konstantinovsky Palace?

US special envoy Steve Witkoff spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than three hours at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg. It was Witkoff’s ninth meeting with Putin. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner joined the conversation remotely.

At the start of the meeting, Witkoff asked for what later became the outcome of the day:

“I hope you will consider resuming the trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States.”

According to reports from the meeting, Putin thanked Donald Trump for his attention to ending the war and asked Witkoff about the results of the talks in Norway. On October 20, Witkoff had met Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies in Oslo, and he carried their proposals to Russia. After the meeting he wrote on social media that the talks were “constructive” but that “important work remains,” and that talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia would continue at a technical level.

According to Russian state media, Putin and Witkoff discussed the concrete framework in which trilateral talks would take place. Witkoff also told Putin that he sees “a certain momentum” in the negotiations after meeting Zelensky.

When could the talks start?

Here the statements diverge. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters that talks would continue in mid-November and that Moscow wants them to focus on post-war security. Zelensky was more cautious on October 21:

“I still don’t know the final dates of that meeting.”

One version of his remarks says Ukraine supports trilateral talks at the negotiator level and would like them as soon as possible, in early November at the latest. Another says he expects them in November. Zelensky also explained what lies behind the push for speed: “The American side proposes organizing this meeting as soon as possible.” He added that the agenda is ending the war and “preparing the ground for a meeting at the leaders’ level,” and that it matters that European partners are included, because security guarantees and reconstruction plans are on the table.

Zelensky did not hide his doubts either, telling reporters the same day:

“In the past, things changed or were canceled. We will see how it goes this time.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media that they see Trump as “quite sincere and consistent in his wish to ease a peaceful settlement and steer everything toward a peace agreement.”

Why do Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart?

Ushakov told reporters that Witkoff briefed Putin on “some new aspects in the approach of the Europeans and Kyiv” from Oslo, but that “there was actually not much substance in them.” Kyiv and its European allies, for their part, have long feared that the White House could strike a deal without them.

The basic positions are unchanged:

• The Kremlin rejects a ceasefire and demands that Kyiv hand over the partly occupied Donbas.
• Ukraine demands a ceasefire along the current front line.
• Putin has so far refused to meet Zelensky, and Moscow says a meeting of Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is being prepared in Shenzhen next month, which it called “the first such meeting in history.”

Gregoire Roos of London’s Chatham House told France 24 that “it is not clear whether Putin would meet Trump and Zelensky” and that “a meeting with Zelensky is the last thing Putin would be ready to do.”

Trump raised the question of whether the sides will sit at the same table even before Witkoff’s trip. He told reporters in Washington:

“They don’t have to be in the same room. I guess they can do it another way. It’s hard for them to be in the same room. I don’t care how it’s done.”

What did Washington offer Moscow?

Witkoff also told Putin that Washington is “grateful” for the diesel deal, which eased American sanctions on Moscow so that Russian fuel could reach the US. Trump issued a broad suspension of sanctions on October 16, and Kyiv and European capitals reacted sharply to the step. According to Witkoff, Washington is also interested in “business and economic cooperation” with Russia once the war is over.

“We are even talking about that openly with the Ukrainians now, to give them some idea of what the opportunities will be when this whole conflict ends.”

As Witkoff landed in Russia, Putin announced the release of Stephen Hubbard, an American captured by Russian forces in Ukraine in 2022 and later sentenced to almost seven years in prison. Hubbard is a retired English teacher in his seventies and has always denied the charge that he was a “mercenary.”

What is happening on the ground meanwhile?

While the talks were under way, Russian strikes killed at least four people in Ukraine, according to Kyiv: two in the capital and an elderly couple in the Kharkiv region. The UN human rights office said that from January to August 2026, more than 400 civilians were killed or wounded in Ukraine every week on average, 55 percent more than in the same period of 2025.

Zelensky devoted his conversation with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Oslo to drone defense, the development of air defense missiles and communications connectivity. Ukraine, he said, supports proposals on a ceasefire, ending the war, the energy sector, humanitarian initiatives, prisoner exchanges and the return of diplomats:

“We will support proposals on a ceasefire, ending the war, the energy sector, but also other sectors, as well as humanitarian initiatives, the return of prisoners and the return of diplomats.”

Two verifiable questions remain open before a November meeting: whether Moscow and Kyiv will agree on a date, and whether the American side will accept Ukraine’s demand that European partners sit at the table.