Follow-Up: Putin Says Trilateral Talks Could Resume After Nov. 10 as Russia Accepts Proposed Meeting, Next Round Possibly in Abu Dhabi
ST. PETERSBURG — After meeting U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for about three hours in St. Petersburg on Oct. 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin would be ready to resume trilateral Russia-U.S.-Ukraine peace talks after Nov. 10, according to a post-meeting briefing by his aide Yury Ushakov, CNN reported. Ushakov said Putin wanted to discuss establishing a postwar "security framework" for both Russia and Ukraine, without offering further details on what Russia would demand.
GSM previously reported that Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo on Oct. 20, where the sides aligned on key elements of a peace framework, and that Witkoff was scheduled to meet Putin on Wednesday. A readout from a U.S. official said Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, proposed a trilateral meeting that was "accepted by the Ukrainians in Oslo yesterday and by the Russians in St. Petersburg today." Kushner joined the St. Petersburg meeting remotely because he had the flu.
Ushakov also told Russian state news channel Russia 24 that the next trilateral round could take place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Zelensky said on Oct. 21 that he would like the meeting to happen "no later than the beginning of November," adding: "Russia said many times it is ready for a meeting and then things changed and got cancelled. Let's see what happens this time."
Public statements from the two sides still diverged. Witkoff wrote on X after the meeting that his talks with both Putin and Zelensky were "constructive," adding: "While there is still important work left to do, President Trump remains committed to seeing this war end and achieving a comprehensive, durable peace." Ushakov, by contrast, said the new approaches from the Europeans and Kyiv that Witkoff outlined "in truth contained little of actual value for resolving the Ukrainian crisis." CNN noted there are no indications so far that Russia has budged on its maximalist positions; Moscow has previously demanded that Ukraine give up the entire Donbas region, dramatically reduce the size of its military and pledge never to join NATO.
Zelensky also told Fox News on Oct. 21 that Ukraine would accept a ceasefire deal that freezes the current front line, after which allies would provide meaningful security guarantees. Another outcome of the St. Petersburg meeting was Russia's release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American teacher detained for more than four years, which GSM reported separately. (GSM, based on CNN reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 会谈地点：位于圣彼得堡近郊 Strelna 的君士坦丁宫（资料图），普京与美国总统特使 Steve Witkoff 10月21日在此会谈约三小时。Steven Pavlov 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。File photo: The Constantine Palace in Strelna near St. Petersburg, where Russian President Vladimir Putin met U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff for about three hours on Oct. 21, 2026. Photo by Steven Pavlov, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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