Ukraine war briefing: New peace proposals lack ‘substance’, says Kremlin after Witkoff-Putin meeting in Russia
US envoy Witkoff presented Putin with proposals drafted by Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo earlier this week. What we know on day 1,702 The Kremlin has criticised new peace proposals to end the war after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday.
Commenting on the meeting, which followed talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo, the Kremlin warned there was little “substance” in the Ukrainian and European proposals. Despite the lukewarm response from Russia, US president Donald Trump claimed it was “the closest we’ve been” to ending the war.
A day before travelling to Russia, Witkoff met Zelenskyy and European leaders in Norway in a meeting aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between the Ukrainian president and Trump. Commenting on the Witkoff-Putin meeting, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was “in principle, ready to resume” the trilateral talks in mid-November – after crucial US midterm elections – and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on postwar security.
Ushakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on “some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv” from the Oslo meeting, adding though that “there wasn’t really much substance in them”. Zelenskyy said Kyiv backed resuming trilateral talks as soon as possible. Witkoff said his talks with Putin were “constructive” but that “there is still important work left to do”. Discussions would continue...
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The GuardianSource headline and summary supplied via NewsData.io. First collected by NewsJaws on 2026-10-22. This is an automated news brief, not original NewsJaws reporting. Dates reflect the source publication. Feed delays may apply.