Russia has expressed preliminary support for holding trilateral talks between Ukrainian, US, and Russian negotiating teams, with the meeting potentially taking place by early November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Axar.az reports, citing Ukrainian media, that speaking to journalists on October 21, Zelensky said that Washington conveyed the information following its meeting with Russian representatives in St. Petersburg.

“It was important that Steve Witkoff had a meeting with the Russian side today. We have received feedback that Russia, as far as we understand from the briefing, supports a trilateral meeting at the level of our teams. The American side suggests doing this as soon as possible, and we support this,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky said the main objective of the proposed talks would be to prepare the ground for ending the war and arranging a meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the United States and Russia.

“I don't know what the final dates of this meeting will be. The agenda is clear: to end the war, bring peace closer, and prepare everything, as far as I understand, for a meeting at leader level,” he said.

He added that Kyiv expected the meeting to take place no later than early November, although the final timing would depend on all parties.

Earlier, US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg to discuss a possible framework for ending the war in Ukraine. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov subsequently said Russia was ready to resume trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi in November.