Zelenskyy meets Witkoff in Oslo before envoy’s Putin talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began talks with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo on Tuesday, hosted by Norway and Finland, a day before Witkoff is due to travel to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The meeting matters because Kyiv fears Washington is withholding Patriot air-defence missiles that European allies have already paid for, and the Oslo format puts Ukraine, the United States and several European governments in one room before Witkoff carries any message to Putin.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre attended, the Kyiv Independent and Ukrinform reported. The Kyiv Independent said Jared Kushner, another Trump adviser, was expected to join remotely, citing Reuters. Representatives of the U.K., France, Germany and Poland, the European Union and NATO were also reported as participants, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Støre’s government said Zelenskyy had asked Norway and Finland to organize the meeting “in a critical time for Ukraine,” the Kyiv Independent reported. Støre said the aim was “to put diplomatic efforts on a more constructive path,” according to Euronews.

Zelenskyy told reporters in Oslo that Witkoff was going to Russia the next day. “Let’s see what Putin has to say,” he said, according to Euronews. He also called for a three-way meeting with Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump “to address the issues that only the leaders can do,” Euronews reported.

Zelenskyy said on X before the talks that Ukraine would discuss “strengthening our air defense and joint production,” the Kyiv Independent reported. Stubb said the agenda covered “Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and the overall security situation in Europe.”

The Kyiv Independent said Witkoff’s Moscow visit is also expected to cover the possible release of an American citizen held in Russia. No date for the Putin meeting had been confirmed in the reports reviewed; Ukrinform and the Kyiv Independent both said only that Witkoff plans or is expected to go.

The talks follow weeks of strain between Kyiv and Washington. Zelenskyy has said the United States is delaying Patriot deliveries financed by allies, as we reported on Oct. 19. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said interceptor deliveries may have been delayed but not for political reasons, according to a Kyiv Independent headline; the full statement was not reviewed. Trump, for his part, said earlier this month that Ukraine needs a new leader, and he has said he is open to a three-way meeting with Xi and Putin.

Canada is not a party to the Oslo talks, and no Canadian government statement on them had appeared in the sources reviewed. Canadians with ties to Ukraine, who number more than a million by ancestry according to Statistics Canada’s census, will be watching whether the talks produce a deal on air defence.

What comes next is Witkoff’s expected Moscow meeting. No outcome from the Oslo talks had been announced when this report was filed, and Zelenskyy’s account of what was agreed remains to be confirmed by the U.S. side.

Via Euronews, the Kyiv Independent and Ukrinform.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.