Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed in principle to resume trilateral negotiations with the United States and Ukraine aimed at ending the war, Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Wednesday, according to AAP and Interfax reporting. Ushakov said Putin told US special envoy Steve Witkoff that Moscow was ready to return to the trilateral format in the second ten days of November — after November 10 — with the talks focused on the main issue of building a security framework for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends.

The announcement followed Putin's meeting with Witkoff at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Witkoff had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo on Tuesday to review a proposal covering security guarantees for Kyiv and funding for Ukraine's economic recovery, and then travelled to Russia to present the plan to Putin, AAP reported. Ushakov said Witkoff welcomed Moscow's willingness and said the decision to resume negotiations would be received with great satisfaction by US President Donald Trump.

Ushakov said Putin also gave the American envoy his assessment of the situation on the front line, claiming Russian troops held complete control of the initiative — a claim presented by the Russian side, which Ukraine disputes. The two sides also discussed the possibility of major economic projects between Russia and the United States, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner joined part of the discussions by videoconference, according to Ushakov's account reported by Interfax.

The agreement in principle marks a shift: Putin had previously resisted holding summit-level negotiations with Washington and Kyiv, and earlier on Wednesday Moscow's foreign minister had ruled out political concessions in the separate account of the meeting published by this desk. No ceasefire has been agreed, no date or venue for the November talks has been announced, and the two sides' stated terms for a settlement remain far apart — so the November window is a resumption of talks, not yet a peace deal.

Sources: AAP, October 21; Interfax reporting via LaPresse, October 21; Internews (New York Post reporting), October 21.