Top Shot – In this pool photo distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin greets U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff before meeting in Moscow on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov/POOL/AFP) (Photo by GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Gabriel Grigorov | AFP | Getty Images
A day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy insisted that any negotiations over the country’s future must include Kiev, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine.
President Zelensky met with the leaders of Finland and Norway in Oslo late Tuesday and said discussions with U.S. officials were constructive and the U.S. reaffirmed its commitment to providing security to Ukraine.
But he stressed that any agreement on Ukraine’s future would only be accepted if Kiev was at the negotiating table.
“It is only acceptable if we are at the negotiating table,” he said, adding that he had discussed with US representatives a reported proposal for a trilateral meeting between the US, China and Russia to negotiate an end to the nearly five-year-old conflict. “You can’t talk about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said.
(LR) U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gare Store enter the room for a meeting on the situation in Ukraine in Oslo on October 20, 2026. (Photo credit: Heiko Junge / NTB / AFP via Getty Images) / Norway OUT
Heiko Junge | AFP | Getty Images
Zelenskiy also said the Oslo talks included a discussion of NATO Article 5, which states that an armed attack against one member state is an attack on all members, and the “different types of security” that Witkov shares with his Russian counterpart. “We will hear his opinion within a day,” President Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.
The move comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Ukraine, with President Donald Trump and Zelensky trading public criticism. President Trump has accused the Ukrainian president of not wanting peace, while President Zelensky has argued that the US government’s easing of sanctions against Russia, including the diesel deal, risks prolonging the conflict.
Overnight, Russia attacked energy and civilian targets across Ukraine, causing at least one casualty, according to local media reports. This comes after President Trump claimed on October 11 that he had brokered an “energy ceasefire” in which countries would refrain from attacking each other’s energy infrastructure amid soaring diesel prices.
Ukraine suspended these attacks for three days, then resumed them, citing continued Russian attacks.
On Tuesday, President Zelenskyy acknowledged that U.S. intelligence agencies had resumed sharing early warnings about Russian attacks, while discussions continued. space x Starlink connectivity and Patriot air defense system.
