• The Kremlin has criticised new peace proposals to end the war after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday. Commenting on the meeting, which followed talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Norway, the Kremlin warned there was little “substance” in the Ukrainian and European proposals. Despite the lukewarm response from Russia, US president Donald Trump claimed it was “the closest we’ve been” to ending the war. A day before travelling to Russia, Witkoff met Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo in a meeting aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between the Ukrainian president and Trump.

  • Commenting on the Witkoff-Putin meeting, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was “in principle, ready to resume” the trilateral talks in mid-November – after crucial US midterm elections – and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on postwar security. Ushakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on “some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv” from the Oslo meeting, but added that “there wasn’t really much substance in them”. Zelenskyy said Kyiv backed resuming trilateral talks as soon as possible.

  • Witkoff said his talks with Putin were “constructive” but that “there is still important work left to do”. Discussions would continue between the US, Ukraine and Russia at the technical level, he added.

  • However, the US envoy has face sharp criticism at home for describing Putin as a “humanitarian”, after the Russian leader agreed to free US citizen Stephen Hubbard from a Russian prison. US Republican senator Thom Tillis posted on X: “WTF, Steve? Look up the definition of ‘humanitarian’.” Trump brushed off Witkoff’s comments, saying “I wouldn’t say anything one way or the other”, while US vice-president JD Vance said: “I agree with Steve Witkoff saying something nice to a person who just released an American hostage.”

  • Later, after a Russian ​strike on ⁠Kyiv that ​followed the talks, Ukrainian foreign minister ⁠Andrii Sybiha said that “appeasement, ⁠servility ​and flattery” ‌would ‌not ‌stop Russia’s war.

  • Putin’s order to release Hubbard as he met Witkoff appeared to be Moscow’s latest calculated move to bring Trump further into line with Putin’s position on Ukraine while offering the US president a diplomatic victory before the midterm elections, writes Pjotr Sauer. Trump had previously asked Putin to free Hubbard, a 74-year-old former teacher who had spent more than four years in Russian jails on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. Trump said on social media: “The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return – an unprecedented situation for Russia … There was no ‘swap’ necessary for this release.”

  • Missiles struck Kyiv in the early hours of ⁠Thursday and Ukraine sent hundreds of drones towards Moscow overnight, authorities said, as the two sides kept up a barrage of attacks ⁠despite the latest ⁠US mediation attempts. The Russian strikes wounded 15 people and damaged subway infrastructure on the Southern Bridge over the Dnipro River in the Ukrainian ⁠capital while also restricting traffic there, Kyiv authorities said. The strikes came after another attack on the city on Wednesday evening that wounded six people. In Ukraine’s north-east, a Russian strike ⁠killed a woman and injured another four people in the Kharkiv region, governor ​Oleh Syniehubov said. And a drone hit energy infrastructure in ‌the Kremenchuk area in the Poltava region, a local official said. In Russia, two people were wounded near Moscow after 630 drones were sent towards the capital during the night, mayor Sergei Sobyanin ‌said. Most of the drones were downed at long range, he added.

  • US secretary of state Marco Rubio said decisions regarding Ukraine’s access to Starlink were ⁠up to its parent company ⁠SpaceX and Elon Musk, ​not the White House, comments that suggested Musk may have restricted Kyiv’s access to the service. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Musk had ordered the slowdown of a military-grade ⁠version of Starlink that Ukraine relies on to defend itself against missile attacks from Russia. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said the US has resumed sharing intelligence with Kyiv about Russian missile strikes after the Norway meeting with Witkoff.