Witkoff and Kushner to meet Putin in St. Petersburg on October 21

Trump negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner plan to meet Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on October 21, according to The New York Times, as part of an effort to demonstrate the benefits of deals with the Russian leader. The meeting aims to secure the release of a long-detained American, likely Stephen Hubbard, a 72-year-old U.S. citizen sentenced to six years and 10 months in a Russian colony on mercenary charges. On October 20, the negotiators met Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo, with Witkoff attending in person and Kushner joining remotely due to flu. Hubbard, who lived in Ukraine since 2014 and fought with territorial defense, was captured in April 2022. The State Department has classified him as wrongfully detained and called for his release in April 2025.