🎙 Comment by Aide to the President of Russia Yury Ushakov following Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Special Envoy of the US President Steven Witkoff (October 21, 2026) 💬 Yury Ushakov: As always, today’s discussion was substantive and frank, lasting almost three hours. Following up on Vladimir Putin’s telephone conversation with Donald Trump on October 9, the exchange of views continued on ways to achieve a lasting and sustainable peace. Russia's President praised the mediation efforts of the US Administration, Donald Trump personally and his special envoys to find mutually acceptable solutions. ☝️ It is important to note that the possible resumption of trilateral talks involving representatives of Russia, the US and Ukraine was discussed in specific terms. As you know, the Ukrainian regime itself thwarted their planned resumption immediately after the State Duma elections by launching massive strikes on the main voting day against Moscow, other cities, polling stations and election commission staff directly, some of whom were killed. The situation was reviewed again, taking into account, among other things, the signals received from the Americans. Our President informed Steve Witkoff that we are, in principle, ready to resume these trilateral talks between November 10 and 19, focusing on 👉 the central issue: building a security framework for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends. The American representative said that President Trump would undoubtedly welcome this decision with great satisfaction. Vladimir Putin asked Steve Witkoff to convey his gratitude to US First Lady Melania Trump for her humanitarian efforts, particularly in reuniting children with their families, as well as for her mediation in resolving the grave humanitarian situation in the Russian town of Alyoshki in the Kherson Region. *** There was also an exchange of views on the situation in the Middle East, primarily, of course, developments surrounding Iran. Russia reaffirmed its readiness to continue helping to find political and diplomatic ways to resolve the Iranian issue. 🇷🇺🇨🇳🇺🇸 Naturally, today’s discussion also touched on a matter attracting considerable attention worldwide: the possible first-ever meeting of the leaders of Russia, China and the US during the APEC Summit in Shenzhen, China, this November. None of the three capitals – Moscow, Washington or Beijing – has rejected this idea. Our Chinese friends, as hosts of the APEC Summit, are already undertaking preparations for it. If circumstances are favourable, they will, of course, include this meeting in the programme of events in Shenzhen. We put forward several practical suggestions regarding the substance of the possible trilateral talks. Read in full