Ukraine supports US push to hold trilateral talks with Russia ‘as soon as possible’: Zelenskyy

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Ukraine supports a US push to hold trilateral talks with Russia “as soon as possible,” as the Kremlin signaled its readiness to resume negotiations.

In remarks cited by Ukrainian media outlets, including the state news agency Ukrinform, Zelenskyy told journalists that Kyiv received feedback from Washington concerning the results of talks earlier in the day between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg.

“We have received feedback that Russia supports a trilateral meeting at the level of our teams. The American side proposes holding it as soon as possible. We support this,” he said.

Noting that he does not know what the final dates for the meeting will be, Zelenskyy said their teams will be in communication to develop the agenda of the proposed talks.

“The agenda is clear: to end the war, bring peace closer, and prepare everything for a meeting at the level of the leaders – this is very important for everyone,” he said, adding the US side promised to arrange a meeting as soon as possible.

Zelenskyy was further quoted as saying that the meeting would take place no later than early November, adding Ukraine’s negotiation team would support proposals for a ceasefire and various humanitarian initiatives, such as prisoner swaps.

He expressed hope that Russia would honor its commitments regarding the trilateral meeting.

Putin hosted the US envoy earlier Wednesday in what was their ninth in-person meeting, after which Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that Putin conveyed Moscow’s readiness "in principle" to resume trilateral peace negotiations on Ukraine in November.

“Our president informed Steve Witkoff that we are, in principle, prepared to resume the aforementioned trilateral negotiations around the 10th of November,” Ushakov told reporters following the talks at St. Petersburg’s Constantine Palace, which he said lasted about three hours.

Ushakov noted that Moscow’s readiness for trilateral negotiations particularly concerned the issue of building a post-war “security system” for Moscow and Kyiv.

Separately, Witkoff announced on the US social media platform X that he and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held “constructive” discussions in St. Petersburg and the Norwegian capital Oslo over the past two days and that these discussions will continue with trilateral talks “at the technical level.”

Russia and Ukraine last held US-mediated peace negotiations earlier this year, with three rounds of talks from Jan. 23-24, Feb. 4-5 and Feb. 17-18. The first two were held in Abu Dhabi, while the third took place in Geneva.

Burç Eruygur