WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Putin agreed in principle to resume trilateral peace negotiations with the United States and Ukraine after Nov. 10.
  • Steve Witkoff presented Putin with a proposal addressing Kyiv’s security guarantees, economic recovery funds, and other issues.
  • Future talks will focus partly on building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends.
  • The agreement reverses Putin’s earlier resistance to summits involving Trump and Zelensky.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to return to trilateral negotiations with the United States and Ukraine aimed at ending the war, according to a Kremlin official who spoke with reporters Wednesday.

The agreement revives a diplomatic format involving Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington after Putin had resisted summits with President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The war has continued for more than four years.

Yuri Ushakov, Moscow’s foreign affairs adviser, said Putin agreed “in principle” that peace talks would continue after Nov. 10. Ushakov made the announcement following Putin’s meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg.

The Kremlin official’s statement places future negotiations back on the table after a period of uncertainty over whether all three governments would participate. The talks are intended to address both an end to the conflict and the security arrangements that would follow.

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Before traveling to Russia, Witkoff met Tuesday with Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo, Norway. They considered a proposal covering security guarantees for Kyiv, economic recovery funds, and other matters connected to ending the war.

Witkoff then headed to Russia to present the proposal to Putin. His meeting with the Russian president produced the agreement to continue peace negotiations after Nov. 10, according to Ushakov’s account.

Ushakov said the future discussions would concentrate on “building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends.” That issue was also expected to be considered under the peace proposal, a source previously told The Post.

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The focus on a future security system adds another major question to negotiations already dealing with Ukraine’s guarantees and economic recovery. The proposal presented to Putin included those areas as officials weighed a potential route toward ending the conflict.

Putin’s agreement marks a reversal from his previous resistance to meetings with both Trump and Zelensky. Those summits had been sought as part of efforts to wind down the war, but the Russian leader had not embraced them.

The latest development followed a tense stretch involving Trump, Zelensky, and Putin. Trump had criticized Zelensky the previous week over Ukrainian strikes targeting Russian energy sites.

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During that dispute, Trump also raised the possibility of leaving Ukraine out of trilateral negotiations. He instead floated the idea of inviting China and Russia to meet with the United States.

Trump has complained that Ukrainian drone attacks destroying Russian oil refineries damaged global energy markets. Those attacks became part of his public frustration with Zelensky and the course of the war.

The president announced on Oct. 9 that he had reached a deal with Putin involving Russian oil exports. Under that deal, sanctions would be waived, and some portion of those exports would be purchased.

The oil arrangement came as Trump argued that damage to Russian refineries had disrupted energy markets worldwide. At the same time, the administration’s special envoy continued working with Ukrainian, European, and Russian officials on the broader peace proposal.

Witkoff’s travel placed him at the center of those consultations. He first discussed the proposal with Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo, then delivered it to Putin in St. Petersburg.

The resulting agreement does not itself end the war, but it brings Russia back toward direct negotiations with Ukraine and the United States. Those talks are expected to address how Russia and Ukraine would be protected after the conflict concludes.

The next stage will follow Nov. 10, according to Ushakov. With Putin agreeing “in principle” to continue, the trilateral process now again includes the three central governments named in the negotiations.

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