Witkoff meets Putin in St Petersburg as Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard

US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday for talks on ending the war in Ukraine. The talks took place in an imperial palace, which Daily Sabah identified as the Constantine Palace.

It was Witkoff's ninth in-person meeting with Putin and part of a renewed US push to end the war. Before travelling to Russia, Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo. According to France 24, he is due to return to Oslo.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Witkoff urged Putin to consider resuming US-mediated peace talks and to review new ideas on ending the war. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not describe the outcome of the meeting or include a readout from either side.

In connection with the talks, Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher. He was detained in April 2022 and later sentenced to six years and 10 months. His family and US-based lawyer question the charges. According to Daily Sabah, Hubbard is 74, was held on mercenary charges and denies them. SCMP reported that Donald Trump confirmed the release on social media, saying the US was not required to give anything in return. The reports do not say whether Hubbard has reached the United States.

Separately, according to France 24, Zelensky called on Wednesday for the front line to be frozen along current lines as a first step toward peace talks. The reports do not include a Russian response.

What is disputed

Accounts differ on what Witkoff thanked Putin for. A France 24 headline cites a diesel deal. Daily Sabah says he thanked Putin for releasing Hubbard. The accounts are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Daily Sabah reported that Trump announced a diesel export deal with Russia earlier this month and that US-Ukraine ties have deteriorated sharply since. The reports do not give the deal's terms.

What each side says

• Ukraine says it has faced disruption to some intelligence sharing and Starlink use since the diesel deal. Zelensky said the Oslo meeting agreed to resolve this, according to Daily Sabah.
• US officials: Daily Sabah reported that a US official called the Oslo talks "constructive". In a separate passage, it cited an unnamed US official as saying the talks made "meaningful progress"; it is not clear whether this is the same official.
• Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, said Washington has not pulled back Kyiv's Starlink access. Daily Sabah quoted him as saying of Witkoff: "He will now, armed with those ideas, be able to go to St. Petersburg and share them with the Russian side, and let's see if we can make some progress".
• Donald Trump said Ukraine must end the war or face "a very bad thing". According to Daily Sabah, he told reporters at the White House: "He's going to have to want to make a deal, because I don't think his people are going to stand for it any longer".
• Elon Musk said any such Starlink decision is made by the US military or the president. Daily Sabah, citing a Wall Street Journal report, said Musk ordered a Starlink slowdown; Reuters could not immediately verify that report.
• The Kremlin said any Putin-Zelensky meeting would need painstaking preparation.

Daily Sabah and SCMP use near-identical wording in places, including on Hubbard's sentence, but neither names a common wire source; France 24's reports are separate.

Analysis

The meeting shows Washington pursuing direct contact with Moscow while consulting Kyiv and European leaders. Hubbard's release may be read as a goodwill signal, but the reports reviewed by Vocemundi contain no readout showing movement on core issues. Daily Sabah reports that Putin has shown few signs of compromising on central war aims. Zelensky's call to freeze the front could offer a starting point if Moscow engages, though no Russian response is reported. Disputes over the diesel deal and Starlink access may also shape trust between Washington and Kyiv. Several outcomes remain possible, from renewed trilateral talks to continued stalemate.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.