Russia is ready to resume trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine in November – said Putin’s adviser Yuri Ushakov after the president’s Wednesday meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff. Abu Dhabi is a possible venue.
Putin met Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, October 21. According to TRT World, the meeting lasted about three hours and was the ninth in-person meeting between the two men. Ushakov told reporters that the president informed Witkoff of Russia’s readiness to resume talks „roughly around November 10”.
Timing and venue: what the Kremlin said exactly
Reports on the timing differ in nuances. As TASS reports, citing Russian broadcaster Vesti, Ushakov mentioned Abu Dhabi and a date „in mid-November, around November 10”. Reuters, citing Interfax, writes about a meeting after November 10. So no date has been officially announced yet, and Abu Dhabi, judging by the statements, is the venue Moscow is focusing on.
According to Ushakov, the topic is to be a „security system” for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the war. The Putin adviser also assessed that the conflict is nearing its end, but, as noted in the reports, did not say when that might happen.
Background: the last talks were in February
Trilateral talks took place three times this year: January 23–24 and February 4–5 in Abu Dhabi, and February 17–18 in Geneva (data from TRT World). After the February round the process stalled; agencies link this to the start of US and Israeli military action against Iran.
The St. Petersburg meeting was preceded by Tuesday talks between Witkoff and Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo. On Wednesday morning, the Ukrainian president wrote that much depends on whether the Americans hear from Russia „something new – about peace, not about continuing the war”.
Zelensky also said on Tuesday that Ukraine immediately supported the American proposal to suspend attacks on energy infrastructure. His post ends before showing how Russia responded. Earlier, as we wrote about Zelensky’s conditions for elections, Kyiv linked further steps to a 60-day ceasefire.
No concessions on key demands
The announcement of talks does not signal a change in Moscow’s position. According to CNN, cited by media, Russia is not signaling it is abandoning its demands, including Ukrainian territorial concessions and limits on its armed forces. As of publication, we have not found an official reaction from Kyiv or Washington to the indicated date. On the occasion of the meeting, Russia released 74-year-old American Stephen Hubbard, who had been imprisoned for over four years.
What it means for Poland
For now, this is a declaration of readiness, not an agreed schedule. For Poland, as a NATO frontline state, it will matter whether talks on a „security system” in Eastern Europe materialise and whether they cover arrangements on troops and guarantees for Ukraine. A possible suspension of attacks on energy infrastructure would also matter for fuel and energy markets in the region. A realistic date will only be known once confirmed by the US and Ukraine.
