Russia 'ready' to resume talks with US, Ukraine

RTHK - Oct 21, 2026

Russia on Wednesday said it was ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States after Vladimir Putin met a US envoy and freed a detained American – but Moscow played down the chances of a deal to end the conflict. US President Donald Trump said it was "the closest we've been" to ending the war while his envoy Steve Witkoff praised Putin as a "humanitarian" for freeing US citizen Stephen Hubbard. But the Kremlin warned after Witkoff's meeting with Putin in Saint Petersburg that there was little "substance" in the Ukrainian and European peace proposals that the US diplomat brought with him. Witkoff had flown to Russia from a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo on Tuesday, which was aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between Zelensky and Trump. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part in the talks with Putin remotely. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was "in principle, ready to resume" the trilateral talks in mid-November – after crucial US midterm elections – and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on post-war security. Ushakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on "some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv" from the Oslo meeting,...

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