Witkoff Met Putin in Saint Petersburg. Russia Released a U.S. Citizen Who Had Been Held Since 2022.

SAINT PETERSBURG – October 21, 2026 – U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday to discuss ideas for ending the war in Ukraine. The meeting followed talks in Oslo the day before that a U.S. official described as constructive. Those Oslo talks included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the leaders of Finland and Norway, and European and NATO representatives. The official said the discussions covered security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic plan, and a broader European security architecture. Witkoff’s aim, the official said, is to create a pathway toward direct trilateral and broader multilateral negotiations.

During the Saint Petersburg meeting, Russia released Stephen James Hubbard, a 74-year-old American who had been held since 2022. Hubbard was arrested during the fighting around Izium. Putin’s office described the release as a goodwill gesture. Trump has said in recent days that Ukraine “has to want to settle this war” and that the United States has “gotten absolutely nothing back except grief, death, tremendous monetary loss.” He has also said Zelenskyy does not want to end the war. Zelenskyy has said Russia is not taking steps toward peace and has continued strikes on energy infrastructure after Trump’s announced ceasefire.

The Saint Petersburg meeting is the latest in a series of U.S.-Russia contacts that have not included Ukraine at the table. The Oslo talks did include Zelenskyy. The next step, according to the U.S. official, is a pathway toward talks that would include Ukraine directly. Whether that pathway produces a meeting, and whether any meeting produces a framework Ukraine can accept, is not known. The public record so far is the Oslo description, the Saint Petersburg meeting, the release of Hubbard, and Trump’s public statements that Ukraine should settle. The energy strikes and the long-range attacks have continued on both sides while the meetings have taken place.

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Keenan Hutka

Publisher of RL News. Covers Kenora, Northwestern Ontario, and Central Canada — local stories, national politics, and the war in Ukraine.

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