Putin proposes meeting Trump in China during St Petersburg talks with Witkoff

Vladimir Putin proposed meeting Donald Trump in China as he welcomed Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff at talks in St Petersburg on Wednesday, per Russian state TV, Reuters reported.

The Kremlin had previously raised three-way talks between Putin, Trump and Xi Jinping at an APEC summit in China next month, but no agreement was announced, the Times of India reported. Putin also offered to discuss restoring US-Russia economic cooperation.

It was the ninth in-person meeting between Putin and Witkoff, held at Constantine Palace, St Petersburg. Russia freed 74-year-old retired teacher Stephen Hubbard, held since 2022 on mercenary charges the US called wrongful detention. Putin said Hubbard was at Pulkovo airport; Witkoff replied: “Because of you, he’s going home to his family,” Reuters and CNN reported.

Jared Kushner was slated to join remotely as he has the flu, CNN reported. Talks covered long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic prosperity plan, and a broader European security architecture, a US official told the Times of India.

Alexander Novak said Russia would dispatch its first diesel tanker to the US on Thursday — 40,000 metric tons, with more to follow, Reuters reported; Witkoff thanked Putin for lifting diesel-export restrictions. Trump said it was time for Ukraine to end the war or face “a very bad thing.”

It followed Witkoff’s Tuesday talks in Oslo with Zelenskyy, who said Kyiv’s complaints over disrupted intelligence sharing and Starshield satellite use would be resolved.

This follows our earlier reporting today on the Hubbard release.