The administration of US President Donald Trump has stepped up diplomatic efforts this autumn to revive stalled negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Washington has increased pressure on Kyiv and its European partners while seeking to draw Moscow back to the negotiating table through a series of concessions, including a deal involving Russian diesel exports to the US and the temporary easing of some sanctions. Yet the Kremlin appears in no hurry to resume meaningful peace talks.
Moscow is ready to hold negotiations with Ukraine at a technical level next month, the Kremlin said after the meeting between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on November 21. Putin agreed to resume the peace talks mediated by Washington after November 10, his aide Yury Ushakov said after the meeting.
He added that the next round of negotiations could take place in Abu Dhabi and would focus on "building the security system for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the war." According to his aide, Putin also shared some thoughts with Witkoff on the possible trilateral summit involving US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ushakov pointed out that Beijing is already preparing the meeting. Moscow proposed to hold a three-way meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for November 18-19 in Shenzhen, China, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week.
According to WSJ sources, Putin hopes to reach an agreement with Trump and Xi on ending the war in Ukraine on terms favorable to Russia. Moscow's proposal for the three-way summit involving Russia, the United States and China — but excluding Ukraine and the European Union — offers a glimpse of the negotiating format the Kremlin would prefer. Russia insists that Ukraine must be prepared to make territorial concessions before negotiations can move forward.
Putin has also repeatedly stressed that he is willing to negotiate only if Russian interests are taken into account. According to the WSJ, Putin views the proposed gathering in Shenzhen as a potential new Yalta Conference, referring to the 1945 meeting of the leaders of the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union to discuss the defeat of Nazi Germany and the postwar order in Europe. The newspaper reported that Chinese officials had indicated through diplomatic channels that Beijing would not object to the three-way format if Trump agreed to participate.
Trump, whose relations with Kyiv have deteriorated significantly in recent weeks, has also expressed openness to such talks. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed out during his visit in Oslo on October 20 that talks concerning the future of his country will be acceptable only if Ukraine gets a seat at the negotiating table. Temur Umarov, a researcher at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin who specializes in China-Russia relations, is not surprised by the Kremlin's proposal.
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