Russia is ready in principle to resume negotiations with Ukraine and the United States to end the war, Yuri Ushakov, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, said after talks with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg. Ushakov said a new round of negotiations could take place around 10 November in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted the talks to resume as soon as possible after discussions with Witkoff and European leaders in Oslo. The latest diplomatic push follows months of stalled negotiations as Russian forces continue their invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022. Kyiv and its European allies have pressed Moscow to return to the negotiating table, while Russia has maintained that it holds the military advantage.
Zelensky said discussions in Oslo covered security guarantees for Ukraine and proposals for an energy ceasefire. Ushakov, however, dismissed the proposals as not particularly useful, leaving uncertainty over whether the planned talks will produce progress towards ending the conflict. French President Emmanuel Macron has accused unnamed foreign leaders of exploiting recent riots in France for electoral advantage, saying their comments were being made at the country’s expense.
Speaking during a visit to the Middle East, Macron criticised leaders he described as being in campaign mode, apparently referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, who face elections in the coming weeks and months. He also accused them of being influenced by artificial intelligence generated fake videos about the unrest. The riots erupted on Saturday alongside cost of living protests and spread across Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Nice.
Nearly 150 people have been jailed, while more than 800 have appeared before the courts, according to the report.