US diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war have intensified through special envoy Steve Witkoff’s recent meetings with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo, alongside an October 9 Trump-Putin phone call that produced a diesel export arrangement and sanctions relief. Russia has signaled readiness to resume trilateral technical talks after November 10, while proposals for a Trump-Putin-Xi trilateral on the sidelines of the November 18-19 APEC summit in China remain under discussion. Trump stated on October 28 that a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting could occur soon, though Moscow continues to condition direct leader talks on prior agreement. These developments, including prisoner releases and economic cooperation talks, shape trader views on the timing of any direct Trump-Putin encounter.