Russia and Ukraine held their first direct talks since 2022 in Istanbul in May 2025, producing large prisoner exchanges but no ceasefire. US envoys then pursued a series of plans, a Trump-Putin summit in Alaska and three-way talks in Abu Dhabi and Geneva in early 2026, which stalled after February. In October 2026 Russia agreed to resume talks, a localised truce took effect in Oleshky and a new round was planned for Abu Dhabi in November.
As of 1 November 2026 no ceasefire or peace agreement is in place. A six-day localised truce in Oleshky, during which residents were evacuated on 31 October, was due to end on 1 November. The Kremlin says three-way talks with Ukraine and the United States are planned in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November, but no date has been confirmed.
After talks in Jeddah, Ukraine said it was ready to accept a US proposal for an immediate interim 30-day ceasefire, conditional on Russia accepting it. The joint statement also listed prisoner exchanges and the return of children as humanitarian goals.
Delegations led by Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky met in Istanbul, hosted by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. They agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each and to set out ceasefire conditions in writing. Zelensky said Russia was not serious about the talks.
Russia and Ukraine completed the exchange agreed in Istanbul over three days, with 390, 307 and 303 people returned by each side in successive stages, The Moscow Times reported. Russia's Defence Ministry called it an exchange of 1,000 people for 1,000 and Zelensky confirmed the final stage.
At a second round in Istanbul the sides agreed to exchange all seriously wounded and sick prisoners and those aged 18 to 25, and to return the remains of 6,000 soldiers each, Umerov said. Russia presented a memorandum that, as published by Russian state agencies, conditions a full ceasefire on Ukraine withdrawing from four regions Russia partly occupies.
In a meeting lasting under an hour, the delegations agreed a humanitarian exchange of at least 1,200 people. Ukraine proposed a leaders' meeting before the end of August, which Medinsky said could only come once terms were agreed. Russia proposed three online working groups.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met for about three hours at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Trump said progress was made but no agreement was reached. Putin referred to an understanding with Trump and said Russia would keep pressing its demands on the root causes of the conflict. Ukraine was not represented.
Trump said a planned summit with Putin in Budapest, announced the week before, would not go ahead. The same day the US Treasury sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil, citing Russia's lack of serious commitment to a peace process. Putin said the summit was postponed rather than cancelled and called the sanctions an unfriendly act.
US and Ukrainian delegations, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Andriy Yermak, head of Zelensky's office, said they had drafted an updated and refined peace framework, Reuters reported. The original US 28-point plan would have required Ukraine to cede territory, cap its army and drop its NATO goal. Rubio said the plan was authored by the US with input from both sides.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin at the Kremlin for five hours to present an amended US plan, AFP reported. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said no territorial compromise had been found and some proposed wording did not suit Moscow, but called the talks useful.
Ukrainian, Russian and US officials began their first three-way talks in Abu Dhabi, a day after Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called a Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas a very important precondition, and Zelensky said Ukraine was open to a demilitarised zone only if Russia pulled back a comparable distance, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
After two days of three-way talks, Witkoff said the sides had agreed to exchange 314 prisoners, the first swap in five months. US European Command said the US and Russia agreed to restore high-level military dialogue. Russia's delegation was led by military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.
Two days of three-way talks in Geneva on territory in eastern Ukraine and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ended without agreement or a date for the next meeting, Reuters reported. Medinsky called the talks difficult but business-like.
The Kremlin said three-way talks were on hold after the start of the war with Iran, Reuters reported. Zelensky said the pause should end and that a Ukrainian team was heading to the US for talks.
Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov arrived in Miami for meetings with US representatives, Reuters reported, saying Ukrainian and Russian representatives had met the US team only separately since February. Russia had declared a ceasefire for 8 and 9 May around its Victory Day parade, and Ukraine had offered an open-ended ceasefire instead.
Trump announced a ceasefire from 9 to 11 May and an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side. Ushakov confirmed Russia's participation and Zelensky said he had agreed to the swap. Before the announcement both sides had accused each other of violating the earlier separate truces.
Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow on 5 September and made their first visit to Kyiv the next day, meeting Zelensky for about three hours, The New York Times reported. Ushakov said Putin told them Russian forces would reach their goals. Peskov did not rule out resuming three-way talks.
Trump posted that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire, effective immediately, with no immediate confirmation from Kyiv or Moscow, Reuters reported. Zelensky said Ukraine would observe it if Russia did, and accused Russia of new strikes. The next day Peskov said contacts were ongoing and rejected Zelensky's proposal of a 60-day ceasefire for elections.
Zelensky met Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Oslo and held a meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, who joined online according to Ukraine's presidential office. Topics included air defence, a possible partial energy ceasefire and security guarantees.
After about three hours with Witkoff in St Petersburg, the Kremlin said Putin agreed in principle to restart talks with the US and Ukraine, AP reported. Ushakov said the proposals brought from Oslo held little of real value, but later called them a step in the right direction.
The White House said First Lady Melania Trump had secured a localised ceasefire in Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson region so aid could be delivered and residents evacuated. It first gave 29 October as the start, while Ukraine's ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets told AP it would begin on 27 October. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the ceasefire had been agreed, Reuters reported.
Peskov said three-way talks were scheduled for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi and would focus on security. Zelensky confirmed Ukrainian negotiators would attend.
Ukraine's General Staff said its truce in Oleshky began at 3am Kyiv time, and Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces ceased fire in the Kherson direction at 4am Moscow time. Melania Trump said the start had been brought forward two days and the area widened beyond Oleshky, LIGA.net reported. The truce was due to last until 1 November, AP reported.
Ukraine's ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova said there had been no violations in Oleshky for 30 hours, AP reported. Aid was to arrive before evacuation corridors opened for about 2,000 remaining residents.
News4Jax (Associated Press)The State Department approved a proposed sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptors to Ukraine for about $2.1 billion, paid with funds from Canada, Germany and Norway and an EU loan, CBS and CNN reported. Zelensky welcomed it but warned delivery could take years.
Residents who chose to leave Oleshky were taken through occupied Crimea and Russia, with those bound for Ukraine flown to Belarus and crossing into Chernihiv region. Officials did not disclose how many left. Zelensky called the mission successful and Russia's ombudsman Yana Lantratova said both sides had agreed to regular humanitarian missions.
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