As reported on Instagram
The Kremlin said Thursday that President Vladimir Putin has agreed in principle to resume three-way talks with Ukraine and the United States after November 10, following a meeting of about three hours with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Konstantin Palace in Strelnya, outside St. Petersburg, on Wednesday. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov, who attended the meeting alongside Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, with Jared Kushner joining by video link, said the renewed contacts would focus on building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends. They would be the first trilateral talks since February, after earlier rounds in Abu Dhabi and Geneva produced little progress beyond prisoner exchanges.
Speaking in a Russian television interview on Thursday, Putin said any resumed talks must produce final peace agreements that ensure the security of both Ukraine and Russia, rather than a temporary, short ceasefire. "We are ready to resume these contacts to achieve this goal," he said. Putin added that Witkoff had stressed the discussions must extend beyond the war itself to the architecture of European security as a whole, a point he said he agreed with.
In the same interview, Putin made clear that Russia's war aims are not conditional on the outcome of the talks. "I think we can reach an agreement. We are willing to do that. But if someone wants it otherwise — fine, it will be otherwise. In any case, we will accomplish our objectives, and all the goals of the 'special military operation' will be achieved," he said.
The largest obstacle remains territory. Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede all of the Donbas region in the east of the country, while Kyiv refuses to hand over land its forces still hold. Putin described eastern Ukraine as historically Russian land and pointed to the referendums Russia held there seven months after its 2022 invasion, which Ukraine and its supporters reject, arguing that peace cannot cost Ukraine its sovereignty or require territorial losses imposed under military pressure.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met Witkoff in Oslo, Norway, said Kyiv is ready for the talks, which are likely to take place by early next month. He said Ukraine supports any proposals for a ceasefire, an end to the war, an energy ceasefire and humanitarian initiatives, and he has called freezing the conflict the minimum required, with ending the war and a meeting of the leaders on the agenda.
In Washington, Vice President JD Vance gave a measured assessment of the distance still separating the two sides. In an interview with Forbes on Thursday, Vance said both countries have agreed to come to the negotiating table, but that they are simply too far apart on the details. "We are trying to do difficult things, knowing we have a very high mountain ahead of us. We are trying anyway," he said.
The diplomacy is moving while the war continues. Overnight Russian attacks on Kyiv killed three people and wounded 12, Ukrainian officials said, as energy facilities were targeted in the capital and three other cities. Outside Kharkiv, two people were killed and 11 wounded.