Vladimir Putin expressed his willingness on Wednesday to resume the tripartite talks about Ukraine around November 10, with Washington's mediation.
According to the report from the agency EFE, the Russian leader held a meeting lasting approximately three hours at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg with the special envoy from the White House, Steve Witkoff.
The Kremlin's International Policy Advisor, Yuri Ushakov, confirmed the Russian stance during a telephone press conference: «The president informed Witkoff that, in principle, we are willing to resume tripartite negotiations around November 10 on the most important issue: the establishment of a security system for Russia and Ukraine at the end of the conflict».
Ushakov added that Witkoff reacted optimistically to the announcement, noting that the resumption of discussions “will undoubtedly be met with great satisfaction by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.”
The tripartite negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States had been interrupted since mid-February, when the Trump administration focused its attention on the military operation against Iran, diverting diplomatic efforts from the European conflict.
On the eve of the meeting in St. Petersburg, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in Oslo with Witkoff, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb to present Ukrainian proposals regarding security guarantees and potential ceasefire formats.
However, Putin received the agreed ideas in the Norwegian capital with skepticism: according to Ushakov, the Russian leader listened to the "new positions and ideas" from Kiev and the Europeans, although he believed that "there weren't many useful things" for the settlement process.
The Russian leader also took the opportunity to meet with Witkoff to emphasize what he referred to as "the strategic initiative" of his forces across all sectors of the front, and he recalled the massive Ukrainian attack with over 1,600 drones against Moscow that occurred in September during the last day of the Russian legislative elections.
In the meeting, other bilateral issues were also discussed, including the war in Iran and an agreement for the supply of Russian diesel to the United States, an agreement that Zelenski had described as "weak" and that generated tensions between Washington and Kiev.
The relationship between Trump and Zelensky is currently at a delicate moment: the U.S. president declared in October that Ukraine needed "a new president" capable of reaching an agreement, while Zelensky warned that it would be a "historical error" for Washington to side with Putin.
In September, envoys Witkoff and Kushner had already traveled to Moscow and then to Kyiv, achieving a 72-hour air truce that did not result in any concrete political advances, and the U.S. peace proposal was reduced from 28 to 19 points after consultations with Ukraine and European allies who considered it excessively favorable to Russia.
Putin also proposed to Witkoff the possibility of a trilateral summit with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting scheduled in Shenzhen for November 18 and 19, although that meeting is not confirmed and does not have a defined agenda.
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