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ST. PETERSBURG (ASN NEWS USA)— President Vladimir Putin hosted U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg on Wednesday for high-stakes talks on ending the war in Ukraine — the ninth time the two men have sat down face to face.

Witkoff arrived in Russia straight from a Tuesday summit in Oslo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the leaders of Norway and Finland, and European and NATO representatives. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called those Oslo talks “positive,” and a U.S. official told Axios the two sides made “meaningful progress,” with Ukraine bringing new ideas and proposals that were discussed in detail. Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner joined the St. Petersburg session virtually.

The meeting opened with a goodwill gesture: Russia announced it will release 74-year-old American prisoner Stephen Hubbard, detained in the country for more than four years. Witkoff also pressed Putin to consider resuming trilateral Russia-U.S.-Ukraine talks. Moscow struck a cautious note — Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would listen to new American proposals but make no “political concessions” and expected no “miracle.”

The talks come as President Trump has warned it is time for Ukraine to end the war or face “a very bad thing,” and as Kyiv worries Washington is backing away — at times holding back real-time intelligence and disrupting Ukraine’s Starshield satellite communications.

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