Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff and European leaders in Norway, with the focus on finding a way to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. The meeting is expected to take place in Oslo on Tuesday, with the prime ministers of Norway and Finland attending.
According to initial reports, Jared Kushner — US President Donald Trump's son-in-law — is expected to join remotely because he is ill. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said it was Zelenskyy himself who asked Witkoff and Kushner to take part in the discussion.
The meeting comes as President Trump continues to publicly criticize Zelenskyy, accusing the Ukrainian leader of not wanting to end the war and suggesting someone else should negotiate on Kyiv's behalf. In recent weeks, Trump is said to have grown increasingly impatient with Zelenskyy while easing pressure on Russia, including lifting sanctions on Moscow's diesel exports. Trump is reportedly keen to bring down energy prices, which have risen sharply because of the US and Israeli war with Iran.
On the Ukrainian side, ahead of the meeting, Zelenskyy said he had held a "substantive exchange" with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on interceptor missiles, intelligence sharing and Starlink — the satellite internet service owned by billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX. Last week, Zelenskyy accused Washington of withholding intelligence from Kyiv and limiting Starlink internet speeds. Ukraine's armed forces use SpaceX's Starshield military internet network for some operations, including UAV strikes.
Zelenskyy did not confirm whether Rubio had committed to resolving those issues, including supplying Ukraine with US-made Patriot interceptor missiles, restoring intelligence sharing and the Starshield service. However, he described the discussion as "constructive" and said the two sides had agreed to talk again soon.
The Oslo meeting takes place as the two sides continue to carry out long-range aerial attacks against each other. According to the Kyiv regional prosecutor's office, at least three people were killed on Ukrainian territory in Russian attacks on Tuesday. A Russian UAV struck the highway linking Kyiv to the Black Sea port of Odesa, killing three people and wounding four.
Meanwhile, more than 32,000 households were left without power after DTEK — Ukraine's largest private energy company — confirmed that three of its energy facilities in the southern Odesa region had been attacked by Russia. On the Russian side, the governor of Tambov province, Yevgeny Pervyshov, said a fire broke out at an oil pumping station after a Ukrainian drone attack overnight; four UAVs were intercepted.
On the diplomatic front, Zelenskyy described the exemption of Russian diesel from sanctions as a "reward" for President Vladimir Putin, warning that it would only make Moscow more intransigent.
