Russia open to resuming trilateral talks with US, Ukraine to end war, says Kremlin

Russia is open to resuming trilateral negotiations with the United States US and Ukraine to end the war the Kremlin said after Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday news agency AFP reported However Moscow criticised recent proposals from Kyiv and European countries saying they lacked substantive detailsThe Kremlin also said preparations were underway for a summit involving Putin US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Shenzhen China next month It described the proposed meeting as the first of its kind in historyPutin held more than three hours of talks with Witkoff in his home city a day after the US envoy described his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway as productive Trumps soninlaw Jared Kushner also participated in the talks with Putin remotelyThe latest diplomatic engagement comes amid continued efforts by Washington to broker an end to the war which began with Russias fullscale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 Despite more than a year of USled negotiations the discussions have yet to produce a breakthrough with tens of thousands of people killed in the conflictKremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Witkoff had briefed Putin on some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv following the Oslo meeting However he added that there wasnt really much substance in themPutin has repeatedly rejected facetoface talks with Zelensky and maintained that Russia intends to seize the remaining parts of eastern UkraineRussia says trilateral talks could resume in NovemberUshakov said the proposed summit involving the leaders of Russia the United States and China was being prepared in Shenzhen without disclosing what would be discussedMeanwhile Ukraine and its European allies have expressed concern that Washington could negotiate a settlement with Moscow without their involvementI always said that we are open to negotiate in any format any topics But dont speak about us without us please Zelensky told US broadcaster Fox News on WednesdayWitkoff who was meeting Putin for the ninth time said he had brought proposals and ideas aimed at securing a peace agreement between Russia and UkraineWeve brought some papers Its really some ideas some sort of peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and youll read that at your leisure Witkoff told Putin at Saint Petersburgs Konstantinovsky Palace before the talksThe US envoy also expressed support for restarting trilateral negotiations a position the Kremlin subsequently said it was open to Ushakov said the talks could resume in midNovember with Moscow seeking to focus discussions on postwar security arrangementsAs Witkoff arrived in Saint Petersburg Ukrainian authorities reported that Russian strikes had killed at least four people including two in Kyiv and an elderly couple in the eastern Kharkiv region Russian occupation authorities in the Lugansk region meanwhile said a Ukrainian drone strike targeting a telephone company had killed two peopleWitkoff sees momentum in negotiationsWitkoff told Putin he saw some degree of momentum in the USled diplomatic efforts following his meeting with ZelenskyThe Ukrainian president who remained in Norway on Wednesday for meetings with the countrys political leaders said he was waiting to hear whether the American side manages to hear something new from Russia todayThe WitkoffZelensky meeting on Tuesday followed several days of friction between Washington and Kyiv as Trump called for a change in Ukraines leadershipWitkoff also thanked Putin for a diesel supply arrangement that reportedly involved easing US sanctions on Moscow to allow Russian fuel to reach the American market The move drew criticism from Kyiv and European countries which have urged Western governments to increase pressure on Russia rather than relax restrictionsThe arrangement has been viewed as an attempt to ease fuel prices for American consumers ahead of next months US midterm elections in which Trumps Republican Party faces a challenging contestWitkoff said Washington was interested in expanding business and economic cooperation with Russia once the war endedWe even talk about it now openly with the Ukrainians to give them some sort of sense about what the possibilities will be when this whole conflict is over he saidUkraine has continued to urge Western countries to maintain sanctions and increase pressure on MoscowRussia releases US citizen Stephen HubbardAhead of the talks Putin announced the release of US citizen Stephen Hubbard who was captured by Russian forces in Ukraine in 2022 and later sentenced to nearly seven years in prisonTrump had asked Putin to release Hubbard a retired English teacher in his 70s who had consistently denied charges that he was a mercenary fighting for UkraineWitkoff described Putin as a humanitarian Trump later said Hubbard was on his way to the United States and that his release had not been part of a prisoner exchangeThe diplomatic engagement comes as Russia continues military operations in Ukraine and both sides remain divided over the terms of a potential settlement While Moscow has indicated a willingness to resume trilateral negotiations the prospects for a lasting agreement remain uncertainWith AFP inputs