US envoy Witkoff meets with Putin in effort to advance proposals to end war in Ukraine
By Lauren Kent, Arina Porkhovnik, CNN
(CNN) — US special envoy Steve Witkoff is holding talks on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at advancing proposals to end to the war in Ukraine and create a pathway to broader negotiations.
Talks got underway on Wednesday morning in St. Petersburg, according to Russian state media TASS.
Coming straight from a Tuesday summit with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway, Witkoff continued his tour to Russia, where TASS said that he and Putin have discussed the outcomes of that summit.
A key outcome of the meeting so far was the announcement that Russia will release 74-year-old American prisoner Stephen Hubbard, who has been detained in the country for more than four years.
Putin also expressed interest in the topic of restoring economic cooperation with the United States, and discussed Russia’s willingness to help resolve the war in Iran, according to TASS. Witkoff implored Putin to consider resuming trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine talks, where technical issues could be discussed, according to TASS.
A US official previously told CNN that the US and Ukraine made “meaningful progress” in the Norway talks on Tuesday. Ukraine “brought forward new ideas and proposals, which were discussed in detail,” and the two sides are now in “strong alignment” on what the next steps will be, the official said.
“Discussions covered key elements of a comprehensive peace framework, including long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic and prosperity plan, and a broader European security architecture designed to create lasting stability,” the US official said.
Ukraine and its allies reiterated the key red lines set by Kyiv for any peace negotiations, including the need for future security guarantees – to ensure Russia doesn’t invade again – and a rejection of any demands to give up territory.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine gives up the entire eastern Ukrainian Donbas region, which is now mostly under Russian control. Moscow has also called for Ukraine to dramatically reduce the size of its military and pledge to never join NATO.
“We have some clear ideas on how to get to peace, and we are united with our European partners in this effort. And we want the Americans to take these ideas to the Russians,” Zelensky said on Tuesday. “Let’s see what Putin has to say.”
The US official added: “The teams are working exceptionally well together, with a shared commitment to finding practical solutions to end the war,” striking a positive tone despite the souring public relationship between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump.
“The goal is to build on the progress made with Ukraine and Europe, discuss the proposals with Russia, and create a pathway toward direct trilateral and broader multilateral negotiations,” the US official said.
Meanwhile in Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday struck a less upbeat tone, saying that Moscow will see what Witkoff brings to the table but will not make “political concessions.” Lavrov said that Moscow does “not expect a miracle” and Washington will remain a rival to Russia “at best,” according to Russian state media TASS.
A European official in Oslo told CNN: “I think plans – or lack of – isn’t as much of a problem as getting Russia to treat any plan seriously.”
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has also been involved in the peace negotiations, has the flu and will join the meeting in Russia remotely.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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CNN’s Anna Chernova, Ivana Kottasová, Kevin Liptak and Nick Paton Walsh contributed to this report.
