US envoy Witkoff in talks with Vladimir Putin about Ukraine – Europe live

During their initial exchange, relayed via the Russian state news agency Tass, Putin reportedly said that he was interested in restoring ties and economic cooperation with the US, as he praised the diesel deal with Trump.

He also recalled Trump’s comments on the need to end the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine to stop the loss of human life, and asked about the talks in Oslo.

In turn, Witkoff said he hoped Putin would consider resuming peace talks with the US and Ukraine for “technical discussions,” and said the Oslo meeting was productive, with “a foundation in place to move toward a ceasefire.”

Let’s see if we get any more detail after the meeting.

It looks like the hosts had something special lined up for the US guests…

Russia has released an American man imprisoned on charges of fighting as mercenary in Ukraine, US envoy Witkoff says.

Agencies identify him as Stephen Hubbard, arrested in 2024.

Witkoff is now talking to Putin, according to Russian state media.

The pair is meeting in Saint Petersburg’s Konstantinovsky Palace. Putin is joined by Dmitriev, who picked up Witkoff from the airport earlier.

We will no doubt hear and hopefully see more from the meeting shortly.

Overnight, a handful of Republicans have spoken out against Donald Trump’s softening stance on Russia, threatening to pull financial support for his agenda over his “embarrassing” handling of the Ukraine war.

Don Bacon, an outgoing congressman in Nebraska, condemned Trump’s actions – which include a stunning agreement to buy Russian diesel and the pausing of sanctions on Moscow – as “absolutely disgraceful” and accused the US president of cozying up to a “war criminal” in Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart.

“It really is disgraceful, and the Republicans that I associate with, there’s a lot of us, can’t stand it,” Bacon told CNN on Monday. “I think the president’s leverage in this Congress is shot.”

Last week, Trump waived sanctions imposed on Russia through a law named after his longtime ally and late senator Lindsey Graham. The legislation, which he signed only last month, was intended to increase financial pressure on Russia, more than four years after it invaded Ukraine.

Instead, Trump announced he had struck a deal with Putin to import diesel fuel, which has become more expensive for Americans largely due to Trump’s war with Iran. Trump has previously blamed Ukraine’s strikes on Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ⁠anti-corruption police said ⁠that ⁠detectives were ​searching the premises of ⁠the National Bank of Ukraine ⁠and also ​the ‌home address of ‌one of ‌the central bank’s employees, Reuters reported.

The anti-corruption police said in a statement ‌on the Telegram app that ​no one has been detained or issued ⁠a suspicion notice. ​The central ​bank did ​not immediately ​respond ‌to ​a request ​for comment.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Saint Petersburg early morning for talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, a day after holding discussions with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of Norway and Finland.

Witkoff was met at Pulkovo Airport by the Kremlin’s advisor for international economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev.

Let’s see how much of the positive tone expressed by Zelenskyy and the two European leaders after yesterday’s talks will hold at the end of the day.

But managing out expectations, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said he “didn’t know if any agreement will be reached today,” Russian news agency Interfax said.

Elsewhere, I will be looking for updates from France and Italy, as both countries step up their response to recent protests and riots that disrupted everyday life.

Lots to cover.

It’s Wednesday, 21 October 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.