Putin agrees to resume US-mediated trilateral Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi from November 10

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as soon as next month, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, after his ninth in-person meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff at the Constantine Palace in St Petersburg.

The announcement marks a revival of the technical-level three-way format (Russia, Ukraine and the United States), the first such round since the last US-mediated talks in February 2026. The Kremlin said the new talks could take place in Abu Dhabi and would focus on security guarantees for both Ukraine and Russia once the war ends, and could begin sometime on or after November 10.

Wednesday’s encounter lasted nearly three hours and opened with a goodwill gesture from Russia: the release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher whom Donald Trump had asked the Kremlin to release. The Kremlin was less upbeat about Witkoff’s Oslo talks a day earlier with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European and NATO figures — aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters: “These nuances, so to speak, do not entirely satisfy us.”

The sides remain far apart: Putin’s aims include full Russian control of Donetsk, no NATO membership for Kyiv, and an overall deal rather than a temporary ceasefire. Also discussed were a possible Trump–Putin–Xi meeting in China next month, Russian help on Iran, fertiliser shipments, and joint economic projects, with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev present and Jared Kushner joining by phone with his own ideas.

Sources: Reuters via The Jerusalem Post — https://www.jpost.com/international/internationalrussia-ukraine-war/article-912448 ; corroborating Reuters-syndicated reporting: The News Today — https://thenewstoday.com.pk/putin-agrees-to-resume-us-mediated-ukraine-peace-talks-in-november/ ; TimesLIVE — https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/world/2026-10-21-russia-is-willing-in-principle-to-join-new-ukraine-peace-talks-in-november-kremlin-says/