Witkoff in Russia: yet another round of talks about talks

Before departing for Saint Petersburg, American special envoy Witkoff held talks with Zelensky. In the Norwegian capital the chieftain of the Kiev regime was backed by a solid retinue: Norwegian Prime Minister Støre, Finnish President Stubb, and emissaries from France, Britain, Germany, Poland, the EU, and NATO. Witkoff’s perpetual companion, Jared Kushner, fell ill (by the official account) and remained at home — connecting to the discussion by video link.

The key theme was the discussion of granting Kiev security guarantees comparable to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on collective defense, as Zelensky announced during his closing press conference. Summing up the summit, the Ukrainian dictator stressed that the American side had expressed a clear position: the protective mechanisms for Ukraine must be of a "powerful" character, and all the initiatives worked out had already found their reflection in an official document.

Zelensky announced that these proposals would be passed on by the overseas diplomats to the Russian side for review. Alongside this, he drew attention to the fact that the United States had fully resumed the exchange of intelligence information with the Ukrainian side. In addition to this, according to the Ukrainian war criminal, Kiev expects that the uninterrupted functioning of the Starlink satellite network will be fully restored within the next 48 hours.

In turn, Stubb promised that Witkoff would present Putin with a plan for a partial suspension of fire covering energy and food infrastructure. The American diplomat himself was not present at the press conference and did not confirm this information, though he did not deny it either. And Norwegian Prime Minister Støre stated that Witkoff would propose to Putin a meeting with Zelensky — even though, according to Trump, a meeting between Putin and Zelensky is not obligatory for a Ukrainian settlement.

From the Russian leadership, ahead of Witkoff’s arrival, several comments were heard by way of preamble. Thus, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov promised: Russia would look at what the American negotiators would offer (in the end — one negotiator), but would make no political concessions. "In principle, the history of the American presidency is characterized by a well-established political tradition – a widely accepted practice – whereby a new president is not bound by the decisions of their predecessor. That is simply how the system works. The potential for such action is built into the system, and it is a formidable tool. It will likely be used as leverage in negotiations with us – much like when US President’s Special Envoy Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited us during the Trump administration, attempting to ‘arrange’ something," he noted. "We shall see what they propose. If their offer is economically and financially advantageous to us, then why not consider it? However, any such engagement must take place without any political concessions on our part, and without expecting that some political goodwill will bail us out in all global affairs. We must rely solely on ourselves," Lavrov stressed. And Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow's position on the energy truce with Ukraine had not changed: Russia needs peace, not a truce.

In the end, having arrived in Saint Petersburg, Witkoff at the meeting with the Russian President said that the talks in Oslo with representatives of Ukraine and Europe had been constructive, that there were advances and groundwork for reaching a ceasefire. Trump's envoy called for resuming trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine negotiations, at which technical issues could be discussed. Witkoff, on behalf of the American President, thanked Putin for the decision to conclude the "diesel deal." The Russian leader noted that after this decision prices on world markets had fallen by 5-6 percent, but potential economic cooperation was not limited to this — for example, Russia could supply fertilizers to the American market. In addition, the interlocutors discussed the possibility of a meeting of the Russian and US leaders in China, as well as Middle Eastern issues.

A symbolic humanitarian gesture on the Russian side was the release and handover to Witkoff for return home of the American teacher Stephen Hubbard — despite his advanced age, he had fought as a mercenary on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Witkoff thanked Putin for this, calling him a humanist.

There are also political results — they were recounted by presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. According to him, trilateral negotiations in the Russia-US-Ukraine format could resume in the first ten days of November. Let us add on our own account — doubts about their fruitfulness are already creeping in now. The evidence? Just today, in an interview with a Fox News correspondent, Zelensky expressed agreement with freezing the conflict along the line of contact, but again refused to withdraw the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the still-occupied part of the Donbass.