Saint Petersburg: United States special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday to advance proposals to end the war in Ukraine and pave the way for broader negotiations.
According to CNN, the meeting followed Witkoff’s Tuesday summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway. The US envoy described the Oslo discussions as “productive” and said reviewing their outcomes remained central to Wednesday’s agenda.
“I think there’s some degree of momentum, and I hope that this today can be another step forward in the peace process and discussing how we resolve the Ukrainian conflict,” Witkoff said.
He urged Putin to consider resuming trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine talks to address outstanding technical issues. Putin expressed interest in restoring economic cooperation with Washington and involving China in discussions on Ukraine.
Witkoff also announced that Moscow had agreed to release 74-year-old American prisoner Stephen Hubbard, who had spent more than four years in detention. Discussions covered Russia’s potential assistance in resolving the war in Iran and possible Russian fertiliser exports to the US. The meeting later continued behind closed doors, with President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner participating remotely due to the flu.
A US official told CNN that Washington and Kyiv had made “meaningful progress” during Tuesday’s Norway talks, with both sides in “strong alignment” on subsequent steps. Discussions included long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic plan and a broader European security architecture.
Kyiv and its Western allies maintained that Ukraine’s sovereignty must be protected and rejected territorial concessions. Moscow, meanwhile, has demanded that Ukraine surrender the entire Donbas region, reduce its armed forces and formally renounce future NATO membership.
Zelensky said Ukraine wanted Washington to convey proposals from Kyiv and its European partners to Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov cautioned that Moscow would assess Witkoff’s proposals but would not offer “political concessions”. According to TASS, he said Moscow did “not expect a miracle” and viewed Washington as a rival “at best”.
A European official in Oslo told CNN that the challenge was getting Russia to treat any peace plan seriously.
