Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Moscow was willing in principle to resume talks with Ukraine and the United States around mid-November, without committing to a proposed leaders’ meeting.
Ushakov spoke after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Oct. 21 about discussions held a day earlier in Oslo. Those talks brought together Witkoff, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. U.S. envoy Jared Kushner joined by video, Norway’s prime minister’s office said.
Norway said the Oslo discussions covered Ukraine’s security, territorial questions and prosperity after the war. Støre described the meeting as constructive and said Witkoff would take ideas developed with European and U.S. officials to Russian leaders.
Ushakov gave a less favorable assessment. He said the new Ukrainian and European approaches offered little useful material for settling the war. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said Kyiv wanted Washington to present its ideas to Moscow and proposed a meeting of the three countries’ leaders.
Ushakov’s remarks followed Moscow’s earlier signal of openness to three-way talks. He said a new round would address postwar security for Russia and Ukraine. He gave an approximate mid-November window, but no specific date or leaders’ summit was confirmed.
