Is the door creaking open? Russia is “ready in principle” to restart talks with the US and Ukraine on ending the war, Vladimir Putin’s top aide Yuri Ushakov said Wednesday, the BBC reported. He spoke after Putin met Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Ushakov suggested a new round around 10 November in Abu Dhabi. A US official told the BBC that Witkoff and Jared Kushner had proposed a technical-level three-way meeting, which Ukraine accepted in Oslo on Tuesday and Russia accepted on Wednesday. Zelensky said the US wants it “as soon as possible” and “we are in favour of it.” The talks have been frozen since February.
Don’t pop the champagne. Ushakov called the ideas Witkoff brought “not very useful,” and said the talks must focus on “building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the conflict.” He also said Putin insists his troops are advancing everywhere on the front, a claim Ukraine and its European allies dispute, pointing to a near stalemate.
Zelensky, meanwhile, told Fox News he would accept freezing the war along the current front line. “Freeze and stop,” he said, with security guarantees to be discussed after.
All of this lands in the middle of a nasty row between Kyiv and Washington. Trump has said it is time for Ukraine to get a new president. Kyiv accused the US of withholding missile-warning intelligence, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “scandalous,” and Zelensky now says the sharing “works now.” Witkoff called Wednesday’s talks “constructive.” Kushner: “There is still hard work ahead.” You can say that again.
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.
Sources: BBC News
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