Moscow opens to trilateral talks on Ukraine, November 10 floated as possible date

A meeting in Saint Petersburg between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff has brought back into focus the possibility of trilateral negotiations on the war in Ukraine. This was reported by Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov, according to whom Putin informed Witkoff of Russia’s willingness to resume talks with the United States and Ukraine (Il Sole 24 Ore).

According to what Moscow has reported, negotiations could resume, in principle, around November 10, with security for Russia and Ukraine at the center of the discussion. The proposal for a technical-level trilateral meeting between the United States, Russia and Ukraine bears the signature of Witkoff himself and Jared Kushner: a US official said the idea was accepted by the Ukrainians during the talks in Oslo and by the Russians at the Saint Petersburg meeting (Il Quotidiano del Sud).

During the meeting, again according to what was reported, Putin also informed Witkoff about the advance of Russian troops along the main axes of the military operation. This is a detail that signals how Moscow is approaching a potential negotiating table while claiming results on the ground, not merely a diplomatic opening: the two tracks, military and negotiating, are proceeding in parallel within the same meeting.

On the Ukrainian side, President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated the freezing of the current front line as a possible first step toward a ceasefire. This is a position that leaves open the most delicate issue of any negotiation between the parties: where the line would stop, and with what guarantees for the two countries involved.

Tempering expectations is Ushakov himself, who chose cautious words to describe the state of the talks:

“In the context of a resolution of the Ukrainian crisis, there is not much that is useful” — Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin adviser

The phrase, in the context in which it was spoken, signals that Moscow does not yet consider sufficient common ground to have been established to speak of a definitive solution, despite the opening on the November date and the stated willingness to return to the table.

The news comes just days after the talks in Oslo between Zelensky and the American envoy, which had already laid the groundwork for the hypothesis of a trilateral meeting accepted, according to reports, by both parties in two different venues and at two different times. It remains to be seen whether the understandings in principle reached separately in Oslo and Saint Petersburg will translate into an actual technical meeting between the three delegations, and whether the date indicated by Moscow will hold up against the usual sticking points: territory and security guarantees for Russia and Ukraine.

For now the two channels remain distinct: the diplomatic one, with Witkoff and Kushner as architects of a possible trilateral framework, and the military one, with Moscow emphasizing the progress of its troops in the same meeting in which it discusses a peace table. The next concrete checkpoint is the date indicated by the Kremlin: November 10 will show whether the openings of these weeks become an actual meeting between the three parties.