Putin Meets Trump Envoy for Ukraine Talks as Russia Frees American Detainee
publishers 139articles 218first reported 1 Oct, 21:39 UTCdeveloping since 2 Oct · 29 editions
Russian President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Wednesday to discuss new proposals for ending the war in Ukraine, as Washington increased pressure on Kyiv to reach a settlement.
The meeting, Witkoff’s ninth in person with Putin, followed talks a day earlier in Oslo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the leaders of Finland and Norway, and European and NATO representatives. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Oslo discussions as positive and said Witkoff would present the ideas to Russia.
Ahead of the talks, Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American schoolteacher imprisoned on mercenary charges after being captured in Ukraine. Witkoff thanked Putin and called him a “humanitarian,” prompting criticism from Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. Trump later limited the description to Putin’s role in Hubbard’s release.
The diplomatic push comes amid worsening U.S.-Ukraine relations following an October deal allowing Russian diesel into U.S. and global markets. Kyiv has also reported disruptions to intelligence sharing and its military satellite communications, although Zelenskyy said the Oslo meeting produced an agreement to address those issues. U.S. officials denied withdrawing Ukraine’s access to Starlink.
Trump has said Ukraine should end the war or face “a very bad thing,” while reports in The Washington Post and Ukrainian media said the Kremlin viewed the administration’s recent shift as advancing Russia’s position.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 4 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 486 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
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- Source articles
- 218
- Given to the writer
- 8, 4 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 486 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
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