Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in principle Wednesday to resume three-way peace negotiations with the United States and Ukraine, though the Kremlin leader will not personally attend the talks.
The commitment came during a meeting in St. Petersburg between Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, where Moscow’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov relayed that the Russian president accepted the framework for talks to continue after November 10. A US official characterized the upcoming discussions as occurring “at the technical level,” meaning Putin would not sit face-to-face with President Donald Trump or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Witkoff, 68, had spent Tuesday in Oslo, Norway, meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to review a comprehensive proposal addressing Kyiv’s security guarantees, postwar economic recovery funds and European security architecture. The US official said “progress reached in talks with Zelensky yesterday” included discussion of “a post-war economic and prosperity plan, European security architecture, and plans for the upcoming trilateral meeting.”
Zelensky emerged from the Oslo session to tell reporters the proposal contained “strong” security guarantees and “positive signals” from the American side. The Ukrainians consented to trilateral talks during those Tuesday discussions, with the Russians formally agreeing Wednesday in St. Petersburg.
The diplomatic breakthrough followed the release of American teacher Stephen Hubbard, 72, who had been held captive by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine since shortly after the invasion began. Hubbard, a retired educator and Air Force veteran, was freed as Witkoff’s discussions with Putin proceeded.
“Steve and Jared expressed gratitude to President Putin for the release of Stephen Hubbard, an American citizen, retired American teacher and Air Force veteran,” the US official said. “Stephen is headed back to the U.S. Today to be reunited with his family. President Trump spoke with him on the phone reiterating his unwavering commitment to bringing all Americans wrongfully detained abroad home.”
Ushakov outlined that future trilateral discussions would center on “building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends.” That agenda item aligned with components of the broader peace proposal, which a source said could also encompass Ukraine’s potential accession into the European Union.
The trilateral format had appeared endangered in recent days. Trump had raged at Zelensky last week over Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, which the president claimed had destabilized global energy markets. During that dispute, Trump floated excluding Ukraine entirely from three-way talks and instead inviting China and Russia to meet bilaterally with the US.
The president subsequently announced an October 9 deal with Putin to waive sanctions and purchase portions of Russian energy exports. Compounding tensions, Ukraine’s access to SpaceX’s military-grade Starlink satellite internet was throttled last week, degrading its ability to counter Russian drone attacks.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied deliberate US involvement in the Starlink disruption. “If it were not for the assistance of the United States, including under the Trump administration, there would be no Ukraine right now,” Rubio said Wednesday. An administration official had previously told reporters the outage originated within the Pentagon, though other reports claimed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made the decision after White House discussions with Trump and senior officials.
Putin had repeatedly resisted direct summits with Trump and Zelensky throughout the more than four-year war, though Russian and Ukrainian delegations met earlier this year in the United Arab Emirates for lower-level peace discussions. The Kremlin’s willingness to reengage in the trilateral format marks a notable shift following weeks of US diplomatic and economic moves that favored Moscow’s position.
The upcoming technical-level talks are expected to convene after November 10, with the location and specific date yet to be announced.