Russia is willing in principle to join new Ukraine peace talks in November, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin told US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday that Moscow is willing in principle to resume talks next month with Ukraine and the US on ending the conflict in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said. No such talks have taken place since February. Ushakov said the proposed new round of talks should focus on “building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the conflict.” He said Witkoff had briefed Putin on his talks the previous day in Oslo, where the American met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Norwegian prime minister and the Finnish president. Ushakov said Witkoff had “noted some new approaches, new points in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv, although they did not contain much that was useful in the context of resolving the Ukrainian crisis”. In talks lasting almost three hours, Putin and the US envoy also discussed the implementation of an October 9 deal between Putin and US President Donald Trump on supplies of Russian diesel to US and world markets, Ushakov added. There was also discussion of the Iran crisis. “Vladimir Putin emphasised that the potential for diplomacy is far from exhausted and that it is both possible and necessary to reach agreements with Tehran, which is our strategic partner,” Ushakov said. “Russia reaffirmed its readiness to continue facilitating the search for political and diplomatic solutions to the Iranian issue.”