Russia is prepared in principle to resume trilateral talks with the United States and Ukraine around Nov. 10, the Kremlin said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Oct. 21 in St. Petersburg.
CNN reported that the meeting at Konstantin Palace lasted about three hours. Afterward, Putin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Axios and other outlets that Moscow was "ready in principle" to restart the three-way talks around Nov. 10. If the talks go ahead, it would mark the first restart signal since February.
Abu Dhabi is the tentative venue
According to the Associated Press, Ushakov said the next round would focus on building a security framework for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends. He told Kommersant, "We are aiming for Abu Dhabi," with timing possibly falling in mid-November. Reuters separately reported that the Kremlin said Russia was willing to resume talks next month.
Ushakov, though, gave a restrained assessment of the Oslo meeting held a day earlier, saying it had limited value for resolving the crisis.
Witkoff brought documents on peace plan elements
According to the Kremlin’s readout, Witkoff described the Oslo talks as "productive" and said he hoped Putin would treat the resumption of trilateral talks as the next step, with technical teams discussing the details that follow. He also said he had brought several documents laying out ideas covering different elements of a Russia-Ukraine peace agreement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS that Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was unable to travel to Russia because of illness and joined the meeting remotely instead.
The Oslo talks took place on Oct. 20 and included a meeting between Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Leaders from Norway and Finland, along with European and NATO representatives, also attended. Reuters, citing U.S. officials, said the discussions covered security guarantees for Ukraine, postwar economic plans, and Europe’s security architecture.
Three rounds were held earlier this year
The source said Russia, Ukraine, and the United States had already held three rounds of talks this year in Abu Dhabi and Geneva. The latest took place on Feb. 17-18. A further round that had been planned for March in the United Arab Emirates did not go ahead because of conflict in the Middle East.
Putin also offered help on the U.S.-Iran crisis
The same Kremlin record said Putin stressed that Russia and Iran had built a special relationship of trust over decades and that Moscow would be willing to help if it could contribute to easing the current crisis.
Tehran’s position remained firm. Reuters reported that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the United States could not expect dialogue while blockading and threatening Iran. Kpler data, cited in the source, showed at least 18 vessel attack incidents over the past two weeks.
Oil and bitcoin both tracked geopolitical pressure
Reuters said Brent crude was quoted at $109.04 a barrel at 10:50 p.m. Taipei time on Oct. 21, after rising by about $2 intraday and then giving back those gains. Dennis Kissler, head trader at BOK Financial, said progress in Russia-Ukraine talks could release tight global diesel supply, which he described as one factor weighing on oil prices recently.
In crypto markets, CoinGecko data cited in the source showed bitcoin at about $84,454 as of 11:57 p.m. Taipei time on Oct. 21, up about 2.4% over the previous 24 hours.
The source said the Russia-Ukraine track and the U.S.-Iran track remain key variables for energy prices and risk appetite. Whether talks in Abu Dhabi restart as planned in November remains to be seen.