In short:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as soon as next month.

The Russian leader has held talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.

What's next?

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he supports the proposal, and is hopeful the three-way talks will take place in early November.

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to resume three-way negotiations next month with Washington and Kyiv aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

The Russian leader met US envoy Steve Witkoff for talks in a grand imperial palace in St Petersburg.

Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the focus would be on "building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends".

The last US-mediated peace talks took place in February before the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran.

Mr Witkoff's talks with Mr Putin about Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine took place as US President Donald Trump pushed Kyiv to make a deal that stops the fighting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted that only a summit of leaders can break the impasse.

Latest proposals to end the war have little of value, Kremlin says

The discussion in St Petersburg lasted about three hours, the Kremlin said, and came a day after Mr Witkoff met Mr Zelenskyy and some European leaders in Norway's capital, Oslo.

The proposals from the Oslo meeting "contained little of real value in the context of resolving the Ukrainian crisis", Mr Ushakov said.

However, he later told Russian state TV that while Moscow was not "fully satisfied" with the Oslo proposals, they were a step in the right direction.

Mr Zelenskyy said he supported the proposal for three-way talks.

"We have received feedback that … Russia supports a trilateral meeting at the level of our [negotiating] teams," he said.

"The American side has proposed holding it as soon as possible and we support that …The Ukrainian side has been in contact with its American partners. They will do everything to ensure that the meeting takes place as early as possible, in November. I think no later than early November."

Mr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv supported "any proposals for a ceasefire, an end to the war, an energy ceasefire as well as humanitarian initiatives".

Witkoff sees 'some degree of momentum' in peace efforts

Mr Witkoff and Mr Putin met at St Petersburg's Constantine Palace, with Mr Ushakov and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev also at the table.

Mr Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joined the discussion via a video link.

Before the meeting, Mr Witkoff said that there was "some degree of momentum" in talks.

In televised opening remarks, Mr Witkoff thanked Mr Putin for agreeing to send diesel to the US after Mr Trump lifted a ban despite anger from some US lawmakers, adding that the fuel would help reduce prices for American farmers and truckers.

Mr Putin said he was ready to consider prospects for the restoration of US-Russia economic ties and that he was prepared to discuss the US-led conflict with Iran.

Moscow stands ready to use its relationship with Tehran to help bring peace, he said.

Mr Ushakov said that "large-scale joint economic projects that offer significant prospects for cooperation" between Russia and the US were discussed in detail with Mr Witkoff.

"Some of these are, in fact, nearing the implementation stage," he said.

Russian attacks kill five and wound at least 23 others, Ukraine says

Overnight, Russian attacks in Kyiv left three people dead and 12 wounded, while 10 residential buildings were damaged, the city's military administration said.

Energy facilities were targeted in Kyiv and three other cities in Russian attacks early on Wednesday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said.

Outside the eastern city of Kharkiv, two people died and 11 others were wounded when drones exploded in a residential area.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that overnight, its forces struck a warehouse, an electrical substation and a bulk carrier at sea that was headed to the Ukrainian port of Odesa.

AP/Reuters