US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on October 21, in a Witkoff Putin meeting focused on restarting US-mediated peace talks on Ukraine. The talks began as Russia released American Stephen Hubbard, according to the Straits Times and NBC News.
According to the Straits Times, Witkoff urged Putin to consider resuming US-mediated talks with Ukraine and to review new ideas for ending the war. The meeting began with Hubbard’s release. Putin told Witkoff that Hubbard was waiting at the airport to fly back to the US.
NBC News reports that Hubbard, a retired American school teacher aged 74, was handed over to Witkoff at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, according to Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov. Trump said Russia was not given anything in return for the release and called it unprecedented. The Kremlin described it as a goodwill gesture. Hubbard’s arrival in the US was expected that night, but the sources do not confirm it.
Hubbard was detained in April 2022 and later sentenced to six years and 10 months on mercenary charges he denies. His family and a US-based lawyer question the charges’ veracity. The sources differ on where he was detained. The Straits Times, citing Reuters, says he was first detained in April 2022 and held in Russia. NBC News says he was detained in Ukraine in 2022 and charged with fighting as a mercenary there.
Before the St Petersburg talks, Witkoff met Zelenskyy and European and NATO representatives in Oslo on October 20. According to the Straits Times, a US official said Ukraine presented new ideas and the talks made meaningful progress.
US-Ukraine ties have soured since Trump announced a diesel export deal with Russia earlier in October. Ukraine has complained of disrupted intelligence sharing and Starshield access. The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that Elon Musk ordered a slowdown of Ukraine’s use of the Starlink satellite service. Musk said the decision was taken by the US military or the President. Trump said he was not responsible, and Hegseth pointed to the terms of service. Rubio denied the White House was behind it and said Washington had not pulled back Kyiv’s access.
According to the Straits Times, Putin offered to help Trump on Iran and said Russia could supply large quantities of fertiliser to the US. He wants to discuss a possible Trump meeting in China in November.
Ushakov said Russia is ready to resume trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine from mid-November on a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the war. Zelenskyy says he supports talks involving himself, Trump and Putin. The Kremlin has insisted any Putin-Zelenskyy meeting would follow a finalized deal and take place in Moscow, which Ukraine calls a nonstarter. A possible Trump-Putin-Xi meeting at the APEC summit in Shenzhen next month is ‘not rejected’ but has not been confirmed.
Several points remain unconfirmed. There is no statement from Putin himself on the talks beyond readouts from Ushakov and the Kremlin, and no official Ukrainian response to the St Petersburg talks in these sources. Kushner’s remote participation was expected but not confirmed. Ushakov’s mid-November timeline and the APEC idea are Russian claims without US or Chinese confirmation. This report draws on two full articles, with Reuters material coming via the Straits Times.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.