Russia Agrees to Resume Trilateral Talks; Trump Says Ukraine War's End Is Near
Russia agreed Wednesday to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States after President Vladimir Putin met a US envoy and freed an American detainee, though Moscow downplayed chances of a peace deal. President Donald Trump called it "the closest we've been" to ending the war. US envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in Saint Petersburg after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo, aimed at easing tensions between Zelensky and Trump. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia was ready for mid-November talks, but found little "substance" in Ukrainian and European proposals. Witkoff praised Putin as a "humanitarian" for freeing US citizen Stephen Hubbard, and a Putin-Trump-Xi summit is being prepared in Shenzhen next month. Russian strikes killed at least four people in Ukraine, while Trump delayed sanctions on Russia to secure Hubbard's release.