Witkoff urges Putin to resume three-way Ukraine talks; Russia frees US teacher Stephen Hubbard

US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, 21 October, and urged him to consider resuming US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine, Reuters reported. It was Witkoff’s ninth in-person meeting with Putin.

A gesture at the start

The talks opened with Russia releasing Stephen Hubbard, a retired American school teacher who had been held in Russia. “One thing that I hope to accomplish today is to have some good conversation between us about the resumption potentially of trilateral talks between Ukraine and Russia and the United States,” Witkoff told Putin, according to Reuters.

Putin offered to help President Donald Trump with Iran, citing Russia’s long relationship with Tehran, said Russia could supply large amounts of fertiliser to US farmers, and raised a possible meeting with Trump in China next month. The last US-mediated talks took place in February. Reuters noted that Putin has shown few signs of giving up his central war aims, including full Russian control of Ukraine’s Donetsk region. On Tuesday Trump said it was time for Ukraine to end the war or face “a very bad thing.”

Kyiv’s position

A day after meeting Witkoff in Oslo, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Fox News the talks there had been productive and that Ukraine was ready for diplomacy. He said he supports a freeze in the fighting and talks between the leaders of Ukraine, the US and Russia, ideally with Europe involved, leading to an agreement with security guarantees. He thanked Washington for restoring intelligence sharing and said he hoped limits on Starlink and Starshield services would be lifted soon.