Witkoff tells Putin that he hoped to discuss the resumption of the trilateral talks between US, Ukraine and Russia.

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United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the US pushes for an end to the Ukraine war that began more than four and a half years ago with Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Witkoff said at the start of the meeting in St. Petersburg on Wednesday that he hoped to discuss the resumption of the trilateral talks involving the US, Russia and Ukraine that would allow the technical teams to discuss the next steps toward a peace settlement.

Putin thanked Trump and Witkoff for their efforts to end the war.

The talks in a grand imperial palace in St Petersburg, the ninth time that Witkoff has met Putin in person, began with ⁠a goodwill gesture from Russia – the release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired US school teacher held in Russia.

Putin also offered to help US President Donald Trump in dealing with Iran, saying Russia had a decades-long relationship with Tehran which it has repeatedly offered to leverage to address US concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme.

Russia could also supply large quantities of fertiliser to the US to help US farmers, the ⁠Russian president told Witkoff, saying he wanted to discuss a potential meeting in China next month with Trump which the Kremlin has suggested could also include Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Ukraine and Russia remain far apart when it comes to the terms of any possible peace deal, but Trump has recently intensified pressure on Ukraine to strike some kind of a deal. He said on Tuesday it was time for Ukraine to end the war or face “a very bad thing.”

 

The talks in Russia come a day after Witkoff met Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Norway. Witkoff said he would brief Putin on the Oslo talks which he described as productive and said had been characterised by “some degree of momentum.”

The prime ministers of Norway and Finland also attended the talks in Oslo. Representatives from the European Union and NATO were present. Following Tuesday’s talks, Zelenskyy said “very, very important” intelligence from the US had been restored.

US-Ukraine ties have deteriorated sharply since Trump announced a diesel export deal with Russia earlier this month.

Zelenskyy has also accused Washington of slowing down the internet service, Starshield, which is crucial for Ukraine’s battlefield operations. Starshield is the military-grade equivalent of Starlink and is also developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Musk ordered the slowdown of the service, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.

Musk has said any such decision is taken by the US military or the president. Trump has said he was not responsible and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated on Wednesday that Washington had not pulled back Kyiv’s ability to access Starlink.

As diplomatic efforts intensify, Russia and Ukraine continue to trade long-range attacks.

At least one person was killed and two were wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s western Bryansk region on Wednesday, Governor Yegor Kovalchuk said on Telegram.

The Ukrainian Emergency Service said two people were killed in a Russian attack on a high-rise building in the Sviatoshinsky district of the capital, Kyiv.