The Kremlin said Russia is willing in principle to join a new round of trilateral peace talks on Ukraine, possibly as soon as November, following a meeting in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. Moscow framed the meeting as a step toward reviving three-way negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States, talks that have stalled repeatedly since the war began.

The diplomatic development came as President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed questions about the state of U.S. support for Ukraine. Zelensky said an early-warning system that alerts Ukrainians to incoming Russian missile strikes resumed operation after he spoke by phone with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He did not specify why the system had been offline.

The broader question of U.S. policy toward Ukraine has become a subject of public debate in Washington. Rubio pushed back on the suggestion that Ukrainians are dying because U.S. support is being withdrawn, calling that characterization false. Other voices, including commentary from National Review, have argued the administration's approach reflects a push toward negotiated settlement rather than disengagement from Ukraine. In Moscow, officials and commentators described in Russian media coverage have characterized recent developments as favorable to their position, though such assessments reflect their own interpretation rather than confirmed shifts in U.S. policy.

No date or location has been finalized for the proposed trilateral talks, and officials from Kyiv have not yet publicly confirmed Ukraine's participation.

References

1. 1.Reuters — Kremlin statement on trilateral talks and Witkoff-Putin meeting
2. 2.AP — details on Zelensky, the early-warning system, and Rubio's comments
3. 3.Politico — reporting on debate in Washington over U.S. Ukraine policy
4. 4.NBC — coverage of Rubio's public pushback
5. 5.Boston Globe — context on U.S.-Ukraine relations
6. 6.National Review — commentary offering an alternative framing of administration policy