Moscow is studying the documents that Steve Witkoff brought to St. Petersburg the day before. This was reported today at the Nizhny Novgorod forum by Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Ryabkov — and he immediately outlined the main framework.

The imperative is the complete, one-hundred-percent taking into account of the changed realities on the ground, our constitutional realities, and what is currently happening on the battlefield.

This is an answer not only to Washington. Witkoff came to Putin directly from Oslo, where he spoke with Zelensky and the Europeans.

One of the main practical results of the latest three-hour meeting is an approximate date. Vladimir Putin reported that Russia is ready to resume trilateral negotiations with the United States and Ukraine in the first ten days of November. The topic is security guarantees for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the conflict. Presidential Aide Ushakov named Abu Dhabi as a possible negotiating venue.

With a trilateral summit at the highest level everything is more complicated. “The topic is being voiced. But so far there is no final understanding on this account,” Ryabkov said.

Here, of course, it is important what obligations Washington is prepared to take upon itself and to compel its old and situational allies to respect these obligations. Our position on fundamental issues does not change.

@epoddubny