Russian President Vladimir Putin told US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday (October 21) that Moscow was willing in principle to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States next month to end the war, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for freezing the conflict along the current front line.
Ushakov said Putin and Witkoff held talks lasting nearly three hours in St Petersburg, discussing prospects for a settlement and the security arrangements needed after the conflict ends. No trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States have taken place since February.
Ushakov said the proposed new round should focus on “building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the conflict”. He added that Witkoff had briefed Putin on his meetings in Oslo the previous day with Zelenskyy, the Norwegian prime minister and the Finnish president.
The Kremlin aide said Witkoff had outlined “some new approaches” from Kyiv and European countries, though Moscow considered them of limited use in resolving the conflict.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said Ukraine was prepared to freeze hostilities along the existing front line and pursue a diplomatic settlement, provided Kyiv received security guarantees from the United States and European countries.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said freezing the conflict was a realistic way to end the war, adding that a ceasefire was the minimum Ukraine expected from Russia.
He rejected the idea of ceding the Donbas region to secure an end to the fighting, arguing that Moscow was seeking to force Ukraine to surrender territory rather than win decisively on the battlefield.
“Right now we have to freeze, and I think this is a real way to end this war,” Zelenskyy said.
He described his meeting with Witkoff in Oslo as productive and thanked Norway for facilitating discussions involving European representatives and US officials, including Jared Kushner, who joined remotely.
Zelenskyy said possible initial steps towards de-escalation could include ceasefires covering food security, maritime operations and energy infrastructure. He added that he had promptly supported a proposal by US President Donald Trump for an energy ceasefire and expressed hope that Witkoff's discussions in Russia would yield results.
Alongside the diplomatic efforts, Moscow signalled that economic and energy cooperation with Washington would continue despite criticism from European countries.
Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin's investment envoy, said on Wednesday that Russia remained capable of supplying fertilisers to US markets. He spoke to reporters after the Putin-Witkoff meeting and said the two sides had discussed the implementation of an October 9 agreement between Putin and Trump concerning Russian diesel supplies to the United States and global markets.
Dmitriev also said Putin had thanked US First Lady Melania Trump for her role in efforts to reunite Russian and Ukrainian families and support other humanitarian initiatives.
Witkoff travelled to St Petersburg after his meetings in Oslo, where discussions with Zelenskyy and European leaders focused on possible ways to revive peace negotiations and bring an end to the war.
(With agency inputs from Reuters and ANI)