Witkoff flies to Saint Petersburg to present Putin with updated Ukraine peace proposal

US special envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Saint Petersburg to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as "positive."

Russian news agency TASS reported that Witkoff landed in the city in the morning. Witkoff is set to present Putin with an updated proposal on ending the war in Ukraine, according to Axios. Jared Kushner will participate virtually in the meeting, a US official told AFP. Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who will also take part in the meeting, was scheduled to meet Witkoff at the airport.

After his Oslo talks, Zelensky thanked Washington for the resumption of US intelligence sharing on Russian strikes. "We are thankful that intelligence works," Zelensky told reporters, describing the early warnings as "very, very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians" when ballistic missiles were about to strike.

Rubio, speaking during a visit to India, said Witkoff would travel to Russia armed with ideas from the Zelensky talks. Rubio said Witkoff would "be able to go to Saint Petersburg and share them with the Russian side," and expressed hope they could make progress.

The diplomatic activity follows days of friction between Kyiv and Washington. Trump struck a diesel-supply deal with Putin, waived new sanctions on Moscow, and called for Zelensky to be replaced after Ukraine refused to stop hitting Russian oil refineries. Trump said Tuesday he had also asked Putin to release American Stephen Hubbard, captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.