Witkoff heads to Russia after Oslo talks with Zelensky, Støre and Stubb

Talks in Oslo

Zelensky met US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo on 20 October in talks aimed at narrowing the gap between Russia and Ukraine to end their war. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb took part, while Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, joined by video link rather than in person. Zelensky wrote on X that his schedule included a trilateral meeting with Støre and Stubb, a bilateral with Witkoff and a meeting of all four leaders. He said Ukraine was keeping every contact that could help bring peace and would also discuss strengthening its air defence and joint production. Speaking at a press conference, Støre called the talks positive and constructive and said they had been made necessary by the events of the past week.

Next step in Russia

Zelensky said Witkoff would travel the next day to Russia, and ANSA reported that Støre expected him to set out the outcome of the Oslo proposals to Moscow and possibly pave the way for a meeting between the leaders. Axios, citing a US official, said Witkoff hoped to meet Vladimir Putin and present ideas developed with Ukraine and European partners. Rai reported on 21 October that Witkoff had landed at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, where he was greeted by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries. Zelensky's remarks named Moscow as the destination, while ANSA and Rai placed the visit in St Petersburg.

Response from Moscow and Kyiv

Finnish President Stubb told the talks had produced real progress on the proposals, but he gave no details and urged patience. Zelensky and his European allies said that any answer to the proposals agreed in Oslo now depended on Russia, according to BBC reporting. A US official described the talks as very productive and constructive, and said there was strong working-level agreement among the United States, Ukraine and Europe on next steps. Putin had not publicly commented as of the BBC report, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had earlier said the Kremlin would listen to what Witkoff presented and reject any political concessions. Zelensky also said intelligence sharing with the United States on Russian missile strikes now worked, after Kyiv had accused Washington of withholding important intelligence, a claim the US called a scandal.

Europe's position and reported US pressure

Speaking in the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas rejected criticism that the bloc lacks a peace strategy. She said US negotiators had for about a year and a half been pushing Ukraine to surrender on Putin's terms, and that EU support was the reason Kyiv had not done so. Kallas added that the EU also had demands of Moscow and would concede nothing for free. Separately, the New York Times reported that Trump was pressing Zelensky to accept a deal involving territorial concessions in Donbas, in exchange for potential economic benefits for Ukraine. According to the paper, Trump told Zelensky that resisting to hold the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine was not worth it.