The Kremlin has taken a long, hard look at the latest peace proposals to end the war in Ukraine and delivered a review that would make a picky restaurant critic blush: not enough "substance." US envoy Steve Witkoff presented the proposals - drafted by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at a meeting in Oslo earlier this week - to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday. The meeting came a day after Witkoff huddled with Zelenskyy and European leaders in Norway, a gathering aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between the Ukrainian president and US president Donald Trump.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was "in principle, ready to resume" trilateral talks in mid-November - conveniently after the 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, adding, "there wasn't really much substance in them." Zelenskyy said Kyiv backed resuming trilateral talks as soon as possible. Witkoff, for his part, called his talks with Putin "constructive" but admitted "there is still important work left to do," adding that discussions would continue at the technical level between the US, Ukraine and Russia.

Meanwhile, Witkoff has faced 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. Republican senator Thom Tillis posted on X: "WTF, Steve? Look up the definition of 'humanitarian'." Trump brushed off the comments, saying, "I wouldn't say anything one way or the other," while vice-president JD Vance offered his own diplomatic take: "I agree with Steve Witkoff saying something nice to a person who just released an American hostage."

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 handing the US president a diplomatic victory before the midterms. 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, according to a Reuters witness, in yet another attack on Ukraine's capital after a Russian evening airstrike that injured six people and damaged homes, a petrol station and transport equipment. Russia earlier continued to pound Ukrainian cities ahead of winter, with Kyiv officials saying Russian strikes killed at least four people, including two in the capital and an elderly couple in the eastern Kharkiv region. Russian occupation authorities in the Luhansk region said a Ukrainian drone strike on a phone company killed two people.

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.