Russia Agrees in Principle to Resume Trilateral Talks with the U.S. and Ukraine Next Month ... A New Phase in Peace Negotiations?

[Financial News]  With Russia having agreed in principle to resume trilateral talks with the United States and Ukraine next month, attention is focused on whether multilateral diplomatic dialogue aimed at ending the war will get back on track some eight months after it was suspended in February.
The Associated Press reported on the 21st (local time) that Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign affairs aide, said at a briefing after the meeting in Saint Petersburg between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. special envoy Steven Charles Witkoff that “President Putin agreed in principle to resume trilateral talks after November 10.” The talks are expected to focus primarily on establishing postwar security arrangements for Russia and Ukraine.
The meeting, held for about three hours at the Konstantin Palace in Saint Petersburg, was attended not only by Putin and Witkoff but also by former senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. Ambassador Donald Trump, who joined by video. The U.S. side reportedly shared the results of discussions held the previous day in Oslo, Norway, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, and proposed working-level talks among the three countries.
According to sources familiar with the closed-door meeting, the U.S. side discussed a range of issues, including postwar economic reconstruction plans, Europe’s security landscape, and preparations for future summits. Putin also signaled the possibility of U.S.-Russia cooperation, including restoring economic ties and mediating the situation in Iran. Ushakov said, “Specific discussions were held on large-scale joint economic projects between the two countries.”
The push to resume the talks came as U.S. President Donald Trump was putting strong pressure on Ukraine to reach a negotiated settlement. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump sharply criticized Ukraine, saying, “We want Zelenskyy to make a deal,” and “We have provided Ukraine with a great deal of support, but all that has come back is loss and tragedy.”
Putin also met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and the possibility of a trilateral summit between the leaders of the United States, Russia, and China during the APEC summit in China next month is growing. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin and Witkoff discussed the possibility of holding a trilateral summit, and that the Chinese government had already begun preparations.
After the meeting in Saint Petersburg, President Zelenskyy said in an interview with Fox News Channel that the most realistic way to end the war would be to stop fighting along the current front line.
He strongly insisted that although Ukraine was willing to take part in negotiations in any format, the Ukrainian government, as a party to the conflict, must participate directly. He also stressed that any ceasefire agreement must be contingent on firm security guarantees from the United States and its European allies, explaining that only with such guarantees would the people of Ukraine “not live in fear that another invasion, occupation, and killing will begin.”
In a publicly released audio message, President Zelenskyy voiced support for U.S. efforts to quickly restart talks, saying, “The clear agenda is to end the war and bring peace closer,” and “Russia has changed its position and canceled schedules before, but we’ll see what happens this time.”
Although diplomatic activity is picking up, many hurdles remain before the war can end. Shortly after news broke of the planned resumption of talks, missile alerts sounded across Ukraine’s capital, Kryvyi Rih, and loud explosions rocked the night sky. Ukrainian authorities said Russian strikes on energy facilities and residential areas around Kryvyi Rih and Kharkiv killed at least 5 people and injured 23. The Russian Defense Ministry also announced that it had shot down 373 Ukrainian drones heading toward Russian territory, with military tensions between the two sides remaining high.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said, “Russia may also have entered a phase of exploring diplomatic opportunities,” but added that although Ukraine would find it difficult to formally recognize its borders along the current front line, the key question would be whether a realistic compromise could be found.
[email protected] Yoon Jae-jun Reporter