On October 21, U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff told Vladimir Putin during a meeting in St. Petersburg that he had brought documents outlining proposals to end the war in Ukraine. According to Witkoff, the previous talks in Oslo were productive, and the parties have developed proposals that could pave the way for a ceasefire.
This was reported by the Russian state propaganda agency TASS.
During the meeting with Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace, Steve Witkoff said the talks in Oslo had been productive and had resulted in some progress. He said there were already proposals that could serve as a basis for a ceasefire in Ukraine. The U.S. envoy also said he had brought documents to Russia outlining approaches to ending the war.
“The talks in Oslo were productive: there has been progress,” TASS quoted Witkoff as saying.
Witkoff expressed hope that Putin would consider resuming trilateral negotiations between Russia, the United States and Ukraine. He said such a format would allow the parties to discuss technical issues.
Putin, for his part, thanked Donald Trump for his attention to efforts to end the war. He said that during their most recent telephone conversation, the U.S. president had emphasized the need to end the conflict to prevent further loss of life.
In addition to the war in Ukraine, the two sides discussed prospects for restoring economic relations. Putin expressed Russia’s interest in resuming economic cooperation with the United States.
Witkoff also said Moscow and Washington would have opportunities to develop economic ties after the war in Ukraine ends. On Trump’s behalf, he thanked Putin for the decision regarding the “diesel deal”.
The Russian president claimed that the decision had led to a 5–6% decline in prices on global markets. He also said Russia could supply larger quantities of fertilizers to the U.S. market.
During the talks, Putin expressed interest in assessments of the situation surrounding Iran and said Russia was ready to help resolve the conflict.
Witkoff also thanked Putin for the release of Stephen Hubbard. The Russian president said Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport.
