Ukraine backs trilateral talks with Russia and the US
Istanbul (ANTARA) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday (21 October) that Ukraine supported US efforts to hold trilateral talks with Russia as soon as possible, as the Kremlin said it was ready to resume negotiations.
In remarks reported by several Ukrainian media outlets, including state news agency Ukrinform, Zelenskyy told journalists that Kyiv had received information from Washington about the outcome of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg that day.
“We have received information that Russia supports a trilateral meeting at the level of our negotiating teams. The American side proposed holding the meeting as soon as possible. We support that proposal,” he said.
Zelenskyy said he did not yet know the exact date of the meeting. However, he said the two sides’ negotiating teams would remain in contact to prepare the agenda for the proposed talks.
“The agenda is clear: ending the war, bringing peace closer and preparing everything for a meeting at leaders’ level. This is very important for all sides,” he said, adding that the US had promised to work towards holding the meeting as soon as possible.
Zelenskyy also said the meeting would take place by early November at the latest. He added that Ukraine’s negotiating team would support ceasefire proposals and various humanitarian initiatives, such as prisoner exchanges.
He said he hoped Russia would honour its commitments regarding the trilateral meeting.
Putin hosted US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday. It was their ninth face-to-face meeting.
After the talks, Russian official Yury Ushakov told journalists that Putin had conveyed Moscow’s readiness, in principle, to resume trilateral peace talks on Ukraine in November.
“Our president told Steve Witkoff that we are, in principle, ready to resume these trilateral talks around 10 November,” Ushakov said after the discussions at the Konstantin Palace in St Petersburg, which he said lasted about three hours.
Ushakov explained that Moscow’s readiness to resume the trilateral talks was primarily linked to discussions on establishing a post-war “security system” for Moscow and Kyiv.
Separately, Witkoff said on social media platform X that he and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had held what he described as “constructive” talks in St Petersburg and Oslo, Norway’s capital, over the previous two days. He said the discussions would continue through technical-level trilateral negotiations.
Russia and Ukraine last held US-mediated peace talks earlier this year, in three rounds on 23–24 January, 4–5 February and 17–18 February. The first two rounds took place in Abu Dhabi, while the third was held in Geneva.