Steve Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies in Oslo, carrying a US proposal to bring Ukraine, Russia and the United States back into trilateral talks. At Constantine Palace on Wednesday, 21 October, the US special envoy told Vladimir Putin: “I hope you will consider the possibility of resuming trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States.”
Putin agreed “in principle” to resume US-mediated talks with Kyiv after November 10, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. Zelenskyy had said on Wednesday that Ukraine supported negotiators-level trilateral talks as soon as possible.
Russia also released Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher in his 70s who had been jailed on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. The release coincided with Witkoff’s visit.
Donald Trump said after the meeting: “It was the closest we’ve been to ending the war.” The US president had delayed new Russia-related sanctions to secure Hubbard’s release.
Hours later, the prospect of renewed talks was followed by a major exchange of attacks overnight into Thursday. Zelenskyy said Russia fired 21 missiles towards 12 regions of Ukraine.
Missiles hit Kyiv in the early hours, striking private homes, a petrol station and energy infrastructure on the eastern side of the Dnipro River. City authorities said tens of residents were wounded. Ukraine’s national emergency service reported at least one person killed and 22 injured, including four children.
In the wider Kyiv region, the strikes killed two people and injured 34 others, including five children. Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor, said subway infrastructure on the Southern Bridge, or Pivdenny Bridge, over the Dnipro River had been damaged.
In the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine, a Russian strike killed a woman and injured four others, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said: “Overnight, Kyiv residents heard what Russian ‘humanism’ truly sounds like: a brutal attack with dozens of ballistic missiles striking energy infrastructure, medical facilities, shopping centers, and residential Areas.”
Ukraine also launched drones towards Russia. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 630 drones were sent towards the Moscow region, including 163 directed at the capital, and that two people were wounded. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it downed 808 Ukrainian drones overnight.
In Lipetsk city in western Russia, drones hit apartment buildings and a medical facility, injuring a man, Governor Igor Artamonov said.
Zelenskyy said the timing of the Russian attack showed the gap between diplomatic language and the course of the war. “Almost immediately after another round of talks, Russia launched a pointed attack. This means there has been no real change in its attitude toward everything that is happening,” he said.
Sybiha made the same case in sharper terms: “Appeasement, servility, and flattery will not stop this war. Only strength will.”
Putin has long avoided a meeting with Zelenskyy and repeatedly rejected a ceasefire while demanding that Kyiv surrender the partially occupied Donbas. The stated willingness to return to talks therefore leaves the central dispute unresolved, while the overnight attacks have tested Trump’s assertion that his administration had brought the sides closer to an end to the war.
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