US special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin after Ukraine’s leader said American intelligence sharing about deadly Russian strikes “works now”.
Kyiv had accused the US of recently withholding such intelligence, causing Ukrainians to lose their lives – a claim rejected as “scandalous” by Washington.
Volodymyr Zelensky was speaking after meeting Witkoff in Oslo on Tuesday for talks later described as “constructive” by a US official.
The Ukrainian president and his European allies said it was now up to Russia to respond to the proposals agreed in Oslo when Witkoff meets Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday to discuss measures to end the war.
ReutersFinnish President Alexander Stubb, who also took part in the talks in Oslo alongside the Norwegian prime minister, said “genuine progress” had been made on proposals to achieve peace but gave no details, and warned that patience would be needed.
Witkoff was not present at their joint press conference with Zelensky after the talks, nor was President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner who had attended via video link.
A US official later said the meeting had been “very productive and constructive” and that there was a “strong alignment at the working level” between the US, Ukraine and Europe on “next steps”.
Relations between Ukraine and the US have soured in recent weeks to the extent that President Trump has said it is time for Ukraine to get a new president, and most recently “for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine”.
Ahead of next month’s US midterm elections, Trump has also sought to blame Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries for fuel prices which have been rising since the start of the US-led war on Iran.
Speaking after the news conference in Oslo, Trump again told reporters at the White House he wanted Kyiv to “make a deal”.
He said Russia would like to “get it done” and it was “time for Ukraine to end this war”.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Russian drone attacks have continued this week. Ukrainian officials said at least 10 people were killed on Tuesday – four in Kyiv and the capital region, another four in the eastern Donetsk region, and two in the central city of Dnipro.
Another attack overnight on Wednesday killed two more people near Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city.
Addressing the issue of US intelligence sharing after Tuesday’s talks, Zelensky said he was “thankful that intelligence works now”.
“Speaking about early warning, which is very important for our people, our children, adults, civilians because we can hear when ballistic[s] is coming – so we are thankful to American side, now it works, it’s great,” he said.
Zelensky also said he hoped for a good result on Starlink, after Ukraine’s military had reported speed restrictions on drones using its internet network to conduct strikes against Russia.
A bipartisan group of US senators called for an urgent investigation into the restrictions last week.
The Ukrainian leader added that “strong” security guarantees for Ukraine had also been discussed, as well as energy ceasefire proposals, and restated that Kyiv was “ready for negotiations” to end the conflict.
“Of course, we are not losing this war, but we are losing people because Russia attacks,” he said.
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre meanwhile stressed that Europe needed “to be at the table” during any discussions about how to bring the fighting to an end.
ReutersUnconfirmed reports earlier on Tuesday said the transfer of more US-made Patriot interceptor missiles – the only effective weapon in shooting down Russian ballistic missiles – had not yet been approved.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters it may be true that Patriot interceptors had not yet arrived in Ukraine, but stressed that nothing had been denied to Kyiv intentionally.
European leaders have meanwhile expressed concern about recent US statements towards Russia.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke of “mixed pictures and messages” on the war on Monday, and said that he was trying to convince the American government “in total that this is something we have to resolve jointly”.
“It’s really a big effort for our budgets, it’s really a big thing for the European Union, but we are doing that and we are trying to keep on doing that until this terrible war ends,” the German leader told Bloomberg TV.
Asked during an interview on Monday whether or not he saw Ukraine as a US ally, US Vice-President JD Vance said Kyiv was “certainly a partner in some ways, but we have some divergent interests from time to time, like for example… I think they should stop bombing Russian energy”.
“We don’t have a formal alliance as far as I know with Ukraine. They’re not in Nato, I don’t think they should be in Nato… we’re gonna work together on some things, but also we’re going to be opposite on some things too,” he said.
