Zelenskyy Confirms Ukraine–US–Russia Trilateral Peace Talks for November

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday that a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia is planned for November, in an effort to restart stalled peace talks as Russia's invasion enters its fifth year. "We are ready to talk," Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian television, adding that territorial questions would need to be handled at the leadership level, while other matters could be left to technical groups.

The announcement came after a round of intensive diplomacy by US President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, who met Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo on Tuesday before travelling to St. Petersburg to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Following those meetings, both Kyiv and Moscow signalled their readiness to resume direct talks mediated by Washington.

Putin agreed "in principle" to restart negotiations after 10 November, according to his foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov. Ushakov said the discussions would centre on "building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends." Zelenskyy, in a separate audio message issued Wednesday, described the goal as preparing "everything for a meeting at the leaders' level."

The three countries have met before: they held two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi in January and February, followed by further negotiations in Geneva in February. However, little progress was reported beyond prisoner-of-war exchanges, with both sides holding firm to their longstanding positions.