Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to resume trilateral peace talks on the war in Ukraine, saying the negotiations would focus on ways to ensure postwar security for both sides.
In an interview on Thursday with Vesti news outlet, Putin discussed Russia’s negotiations with representatives of US President Donald Trump’s administration, recalling an agreement to resume trilateral talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
“The objective of these talks will be to discuss how to ensure the security of both Ukraine and Russia following the conclusion of peace agreements – specifically definitive, long-term agreements rather than merely a temporary cessation of hostilities,” he added.
Putin said they are ready to resume contacts to achieve this goal, noting that during their meeting in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff stressed they must address the broader architecture of European security if they are to discuss future security arrangements for both Russia and Ukraine.
“I agree with that too. Well, let’s see how the situation develops over the coming days,” he added.
His remarks came a day after he hosted the US envoy at St. Petersburg’s Constantine Palace, after which Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that Putin conveyed Moscow’s readiness "in principle" to resume trilateral peace negotiations on Ukraine in November.
“Our president informed Steve Witkoff that we are, in principle, prepared to resume the aforementioned trilateral negotiations around the 10th of November,” Ushakov said following the talks, adding that Moscow’s readiness for trilateral negotiations particularly concerned the issue of building a post-war “security system” for Russia and Ukraine.
Separately, Witkoff announced on X that he and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held “constructive” discussions in St. Petersburg and the Norwegian capital Oslo, the latter of which took place on Tuesday, and that these discussions will continue with trilateral talks “at the technical level.”
Russia and Ukraine last held US-mediated peace negotiations earlier this year, with three rounds of talks on January 23-24, February 4-5, and February 7-18. The first two were held in Abu Dhabi, while the third took place in Geneva.
Commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's remarks on Wednesday to Fox News on being open to freezing the front line in Ukraine in an effort to end the war, Putin argued that it seemed "inappropriate" to describe the issue as amounting to "any territorial losses."
"To begin with, my view on this matter is that this is not their territory. It is the territory of historical Russia," Putin said, further arguing that the residents of these territories "chose" to be part of Russia through referendums in September 2022.
The referendums were widely condemned as illegal by the international community.
