The meeting came first. On Wednesday, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff sat with President Vladimir Putin at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg for nearly three hours, with Jared Kushner taking part remotely. Putin opened it with a release: Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American schoolteacher and serviceman held by Russia since 2022, was freed at President Trump’s request. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cited Hubbard’s poor health.
Witkoff, on camera, thanked him in terms that carried the day’s argument with them: “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again.”
Hours later, beginning Wednesday evening, Russia attacked Ukraine in three waves with 21 ballistic missiles — Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon and Onyx types, by Ukrainian accounts — and 210 drones, Kyiv the main target. At least three of the missiles carried cluster warheads, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. In Kyiv and the surrounding area, 2 people were killed and 34 injured, including 5 children, Ukrainian officials reported. None of the ballistic missiles aimed at the capital were intercepted; Ukrainian media cited a shortage of Patriot interceptors.
Zelensky answered the envoy’s word directly, on X: “Russian ‘humanitarians’ have launched three waves of ballistic strikes against Kyiv since this evening.” The choice of weapon and of target area, he said, was deliberate. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said “only strength” would stop Russia, not “appeasement, servility and flattery.”
In Washington, two Republican senators answered in public. Thom Tillis of North Carolina posted: “WTF, Steve? Look up the definition of ‘humanitarian.’” John Cornyn of Texas posted: “No. Putin is stone cold killer.” President Trump, asked in the Oval Office on Wednesday, declined to criticize the remark — Witkoff could have meant it for the “particular purpose” of Hubbard’s release — saying, “I wouldn’t say anything one way or the other.” He also said negotiators were “maybe now the closest we’ve been” to ending the war.
What comes next is a calendar, not an agreement. The Kremlin said it is “in principle” ready to resume trilateral U.S.–Russia–Ukraine talks in mid-November, after the U.S. midterm elections; Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the Ukrainian and European proposals Witkoff carried “lacked substance.” Zelensky backs resumed talks and has called freezing the conflict at the current lines the “minimum.”
The Facts
- Envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin for nearly three hours Wednesday at the Constantine Palace, St. Petersburg; Jared Kushner took part remotely.
- Putin freed Stephen Hubbard, 74, an American held since 2022, at President Trump’s request; the Kremlin cited his health.
- Wednesday night into Thursday, Russia fired 21 ballistic missiles and 210 drones at Ukraine, Kyiv the main target, in three waves; at least three missiles carried cluster warheads (Zelensky).
- Kyiv-area toll reported by Ukrainian officials: 2 killed, 34 injured, including 5 children. No ballistic missile on Kyiv was intercepted.
- Senators Tillis and Cornyn criticized Witkoff’s “humanitarian” remark publicly; President Trump declined to criticize it.
- The Kremlin says it is ready “in principle” for trilateral talks in mid-November, after the U.S. midterms.
Sources: The New York Times; CNN; The Times of London; Reuters; Ukrainian officials’ statements.
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