Missiles hit Kyiv after Russia agrees to US call to resume Ukraine peace talks — SkimNews
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- Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday after talks with Zelensky in Oslo, and Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov suggested the next three-way round could be held around November 10 in Abu Dhabi focused on "building a security system for Russia and Ukraine."
- Kyiv came under a fresh missile attack Wednesday night that injured six people and hit several houses, per Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, arriving hours after Russia's agreement to resume talks.
- Volodymyr Zelensky told Fox News he would accept a deal freezing the war along the current front line, calling it the "minimum" Ukraine needs and backing Trump's language of "freeze and stop."
- Vladimir Putin reiterated to Witkoff that Russian troops hold "strategic initiative" across the front line — a claim Ukraine and European allies dispute, citing a virtual stalemate.
- Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American citizen sentenced to nearly seven years for allegedly fighting for Ukraine, was released by Russia before the talks; Witkoff called Putin a "humanitarian" for the move, though JD Vance pushed back on that characterization.
- Trump has publicly said it's time for Ukraine to get "a new president" and for "somebody else" to negotiate, blaming Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for rising US fuel prices and lifting sanctions that released Russian diesel onto global markets.
Why it matters: Russia's tentative agreement to return to the table — after walking away in February amid escalating attacks — is the most concrete diplomatic move in months, yet the hours-apart missile strike on Kyiv underscores that battlefield behavior is not tracking with stated intent. Ukraine's willingness to freeze along current lines, which Russia controls about 20% of, puts the territorial question at the center of any deal.
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