Russia Signals New Ukraine War Talks After St. Petersburg Meeting

A renewed diplomatic effort unfolded alongside another attack on Kyiv. Missiles struck Ukraine’s capital on Wednesday night, damaging several homes and injuring six people, according to Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. Earlier, Russia had indicated that peace discussions could restart. Vladimir Putin then met Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff for roughly three hours in St Petersburg, with Jared Kushner joining remotely.

Witkoff arrived after Tuesday meetings in Oslo with Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Finland and Norway. Zelensky said those conversations covered energy ceasefire ideas and firm security guarantees for Ukraine. Putin aide Yuri Ushakov was dismissive of the proposals, but raised the possibility of another Russia-Ukraine-US session around 10 November in Abu Dhabi. He said a future security structure covering Russia and Ukraine should be central to those negotiations. The three-party process had stopped in February.

The battlefield remains central to any agreement. Moscow holds roughly 20% of Ukrainian land, while Putin says Russian forces have momentum across the front. Ukraine and its European partners describe the fighting as essentially deadlocked. Zelensky said he would agree to halt combat at the existing front line, with security guarantees addressed afterward. For Spokane residents following efforts to end the war, the proposed Abu Dhabi meeting is the next concrete diplomatic marker. Separately, Russia freed 74-year-old American Stephen Hubbard before the St Petersburg talks; he had received a prison term of nearly seven years over allegations that he fought for Ukraine.