Putin Agrees to Resume US-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Peace Talks After Three-Hour Meeting With Trump Envoy Witkoff

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg for more than three hours on Wednesday, presenting a written peace framework and reporting progress after earlier talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo. The Kremlin confirmed afterward that Putin is ready in principle to resume trilateral peace negotiations with the US and Ukraine around mid-November, with Abu Dhabi emerging as a possible venue and China reportedly already preparing for a potential three-way summit involving Trump, Putin, and Xi Jinping.

Witkoff told Putin the Oslo discussions were productive and that the groundwork had been laid to achieve a ceasefire. A US official confirmed Russia accepted the American proposal for a trilateral technical-level meeting, and Zelenskyy said he supports the talks and hopes they can begin as early as the first week of November. The Kremlin's top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said the central topic would be building a security system for both Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends, and separately characterized the war as moving toward an end.

Russia released American Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher convicted of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine and sentenced to nearly seven years in a penal colony, during the talks. Witkoff thanked Putin directly, calling him a humanitarian, a remark that drew swift backlash in Washington. Trump publicly credited his appeal to Putin for securing Hubbard's release, and the White House said the US gave nothing in return.

The meeting also covered bilateral economic ties. Putin confirmed that the first tanker carrying 40,000 tons of Russian diesel under the Trump-Putin fuel deal will depart Thursday, with additional vessels to follow. Global diesel prices fell 5 to 6 percent following the announcement of the deal, Putin said. He also offered to supply fertilizers to the American market in large quantities, citing conversations with Trump. The Trump administration separately tapped an emergency Northeast heating oil reserve of 315,000 barrels, though analysts said the volume is too small to move prices meaningfully ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.

An unrelated but significant parallel development centered on Iran. The Financial Times reported that Israel had prepared a multi-day bombing campaign targeting Iranian civilian and military infrastructure, including nuclear facilities and power plants, planned for the weekend of October 10, but Trump blocked it at the last minute over concerns about an energy price spike before the midterms. Netanyahu reportedly wanted the strikes to rally domestic support before Israel's October 27 election. Israeli media reported Netanyahu may now proceed with strikes before that election without US backing. Netanyahu publicly stated Iran is again developing nuclear weapons under Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and ordered the IDF, Mossad, and security services to prepare for regime change in Iran. Defense Minister Katz warned that if Iran attacks Israel, Iran will burn. Iran responded by placing its military on its highest alert, declaring any attack, whether joint or separate, would be treated as all-out war and met with a response without limits or restraint. Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi said Tehran is open to diplomacy if Washington demonstrates sincere intent, but warned that a US choice of war would result in an even greater strategic failure than previous military actions.