(Pajhwok): Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as early as next month, the Kremlin said on Wednesday after his meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff, Reuters reported.
The meeting in St Petersburg marked the ninth time Witkoff had met Putin in person as Washington renewed efforts to end the war.
The talks began with the release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired American schoolteacher detained in Russia, following a request from US President Donald Trump.
The meeting took place amid concerns in Kyiv and among its allies that Washington was reducing support for Ukraine, including by withholding real-time intelligence and disrupting military communications.
The Kremlin said the proposed three-way talks could take place in Abu Dhabi on or after November 10. The technical-level discussions would focus on security guarantees for Ukraine and Russia after the war.
However, Moscow expressed reservations about the outcome of Witkoff’s earlier talks in Oslo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the leaders of Finland and Norway, and European and NATO representatives.
Witkoff told Putin the discussions had shown “some degree of momentum”, while a US official said Ukraine had presented new ideas and proposals.
“These nuances, so to speak, do not entirely satisfy us,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the nearly three-hour meeting.
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