Russia ready ‘in principle’ to resume peace talks with Ukraine and U.S., but doubtful of progress: official

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, left, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on Oct. 21, 2026. Photo by Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

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Russia said Wednesday it was ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States after Vladimir Putin met a U.S. envoy and freed a detained American — but Moscow played down the chances of a deal to end the conflict.

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U.S. President Donald Trump said it was “the closest we’ve been” to ending the war while his envoy Steve Witkoff praised Putin as a “humanitarian” for freeing U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard.

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But the Kremlin warned after Witkoff’s meeting with Putin in Saint Petersburg that there was little “substance” in the Ukrainian and European peace proposals that the U.S. diplomat brought with him.

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Witkoff had flown to Russia from a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo on Tuesday, which was aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between Zelenskyy and Trump.

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Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part in the talks with Putin remotely.

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Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, including AFP, that Russia was “in principle, ready to resume” the trilateral talks in mid-November — after crucial U.S. midterm elections — and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on post-war security.

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Ushakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on “some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv” from the Oslo meeting, adding though that “there wasn’t really much substance in them”.

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A summit between Putin, Trump and China’s Xi Jinping was also being prepared in China’s Shenzhen for next month, Ushakov said, calling it “the first such meeting in history.”

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During their three-hour meeting, Witkoff praised Putin for granting Trump’s request to free Hubbard, a retired English teacher in his 70s who had always denied the charges he was a “mercenary” fighting for Ukraine.

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“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian — you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that,” Witkoff said.

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Witkoff said on social media afterward that the Putin talks were “constructive” but that “there is still important work left to do.” Discussions would continue between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia at the technical level, he added.

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Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has consistently rejected face-to-face talks with Zelenskyy and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine.

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Trump came to power in January 2025 promising to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours — but over a year of U.S.-led talks have failed to produce a breakthrough, with tens of thousands killed.

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In recent days a frustrated Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Putin, trumpeting what he said was a deal for Russia to sell diesel and reduce prices sent soaring by his Iran war.