The announcement came amid intensified diplomatic efforts
by US President Donald Trump's administration, with Witkoff first meeting
on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo, before meeting with
Putin on Wednesday.
Following the meetings, both Kyiv
and Moscow
voiced their willingness to resume direct talks mediated by Washington.
Russia, which launched its full-scale offensive against
Ukraine in February 2022, has suggested talks could take place 'around November
10', while Zelensky has called for the discussions to happen 'as soon as
possible'.
Zelensky has called for the discussions to happen 'as
soon as possible'.
Witkoff calls Putin a ‘humanitarian’
In a televised interview aired late Thursday, Putin
meanwhile said that any trilateral talks would focus on the security
arrangements of a final peace deal and not a 'short' truce.
It comes as the US' relationship with Russia appears to
be growing.
During his visit to Saint Petersburg, Witkoff hailed
Putin as a 'humanitarian' after the Russian leader announced that Moscow had
freed Steven Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American teacher who had been
behind bars in Russia since 2022.
‘You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir,’ Witkoff told Putin as the two men sat across from each other at the Konstantinovsky Palace on Wednesday.
The exchange sparked backlash, with commentators
condemning Witkoff.
Washington Post columnist Max Boot called the moment
‘nauseating and embarrassing’, while The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum asked how
'humanitarian' could apply to a leader whose forces kill civilians and abduct
children, and have his permission to sexually assault.
The praise lands at an awkward moment for the White
House. Its warming relationship with Moscow is drawing growing criticism as
Trump leans on Kyiv to accept a negotiated settlement and pursues closer
economic ties with Russia.
Russia's readiness to resume peace talks follows a
meeting between President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Pictured: Putin's new Geran-4 drones seen attacking
Ukraine.
Russia lifts diesel export controls
Trump has insisted that Hubbard was released without the
US giving anything in return.
Witkoff also used the meeting to thank Putin for lifting
export controls on Russian diesel. Russia announced the move as the envoy
arrived, under a deal with Trump that will soon see shipments head to the US.
Thanking the Russian president, Witkoff said: 'I want to
thank you for your decision to remove export controls on diesel oil from Russia
and to sell not just to the United States but also to the world at large.
'I know the President is deeply grateful for it, as are
our farmers and other truckers who use diesel and have been adversely affected
by this diesel crisis, and people all over the world. So it's an example of us
all working together, and I want to say thank you to you for that.'
Witkoff added that he had brought 'ideas' for a possible
peace deal with Ukraine, telling Putin: 'We've brought some papers. It's really
some ideas, some sort of peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, and you'll read
that at your leisure.'
The longtime Russian leader has previously refused to hold face-to-face talks with Zelensky and said that Moscow intends to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine. /-
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