Putin told Witkoff Russia ready to resume trilateral Ukraine talks in November: Aide

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff during talks that Moscow is ready 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 told reporters in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, where Putin hosted the US envoy for talks that lasted about three hours earlier Wednesday.

Ushakov said Moscow's readiness for trilateral negotiations particularly concerned the issue of building a post-war "security system" for Moscow and Kyiv, adding that the situation around Ukraine was a central topic of the discussions.

Ushakov said Putin praised the current US administration's mediation efforts concerning the ongoing war and also confirmed to Witkoff that Russia is ready to facilitate the search for political and diplomatic solutions to the situation around Iran.

"Vladimir Putin emphasized that diplomatic opportunities are far from exhausted. And that it is possible and necessary to reach an agreement with Tehran, our strategic partner," Ushakov went on to say.

He also said Witkoff, for his part, briefed Putin on the substance of talks he took part in Tuesday in the Norwegian capital Oslo, which included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and said Moscow's decision to release US citizen Stephen Hubbard would be appreciated by Trump and the American public.

He added that Hubbard was handed over to Witkoff at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg for his return to the US following his release.