After meeting with the Ukrainian president in Oslo, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Russia on Wednesday to push Vladimir Putin for three-way talks.
U. S. envoy Steve Witkoff, center, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, left, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, right, meet in Oslo on Tuesday. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB/Reuters)
October 20, 2026 at 5:38 p.m.DT
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By Francesca Ebel, The Washington Post, KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine had been restored Tuesday, following a meeting with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo.
“I’m speaking about the early warning. That is very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians, because we can know when a ballistic is coming. So we are thankful to American side. Now it works,” he said.
The meeting, hosted by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, and attended by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and representatives from Britain, the European Union and NATO, followed a dramatic deterioration of relations between Kyiv and Washington, after Trump lifted some sanctions on Russia this month, announced a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and embraced Moscow at a time when Ukraine needs all the help it can get.
Zelensky had criticized the fuel deal, describing it as a “weak” move triggered by Trump’s failures in Iran. In the difficult 10 days since, as Zelensky became more unrestrained in his criticism of Trump — saying he felt “betrayed” — Ukrainian officials say the United States moved to throttle Ukraine’s Starlink capabilities, delayed sending much-needed interceptor missiles and limited intelligence sharing. The U.S. has denied that it imposed such restrictions.
But Ukrainian civilians were left exposed this past week after Kyiv began reporting the outages and as Russian attacks continued to rain down on major cities across the country. Having made little recent progress on the battlefield, Russia has intensified its ballistic and jet-powered drone attacks on Kyiv and other big cities in recent months with the aim of making them unlivable by winter.
Despite the building political crisis, it was all smiles in Oslo on Tuesday, as Zelensky made an effort to seem upbeat. He embraced Witkoff stiffly at an initial photo spray and later presented the Trump envoy with an award.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, joined the meeting by video link.
A U.S. official said that the Oslo meetings were “very productive.”
“Ukraine brought forward new ideas and proposals, which were discussed in detail. The parties made meaningful progress in aligning on a coordinated approach to engaging Russia and advancing the diplomatic process,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations. The official said that there was “strong alignment” among the U.S., Ukraine and Europe on the next steps, and that Witkoff and Kushner would push Putin to hold “direct trilateral” talks with Zelensky and Trump, a Ukrainian suggestion.
Store Gahrold reporters that he was glad to have been able to “straighten out a few things,” adding that there was “nothing to gain … from digging into what was said yesterday.”
Witkoff is set to visit St. Petersburg on Wednesday with the aim of “exchanging ideas” and presenting Putin with the proposal of a trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelensky and Putin, part of the latest effort to coax the Russian leader to the negotiating table.
As Zelensky repeated that he was “ready for negotiations,” Trump, watching from Washington, insisted that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that stood in the way of peace, saying it was “time for Ukraine to end this war.”
The Trump envoy is also expected to push for the release of Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. schoolteacher in his 70s who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than four years after he was captured by Russian troops in Izyum, in eastern Ukraine, in April 2022 while the city was under occupation.
“What’s happening is that Russia would like to get it done,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday after the meeting. “Russia is a big machine. They just keep grinding forward. … They’ve taken a very large piece of land, and you know, you can say that Ukraine is doing well or poorly, but the land gets bigger and bigger all the time, week by week. … They just keep marching forward. They have an unlimited supply of people,” Trump said, echoing Kremlin talking points.
In reality, the front line is largely static, with both sides having made marginal gains in recent months and Russia still far from taking the rest of Donbas — one of its key war aims.
“Zelensky has to want to settle this war, and if he doesn’t, I think it’s going to be a very bad thing. Look, we have given tremendous amounts to Ukraine. We’ve got nothing back, other than high diesel,” Trump continued.
Stubb, the Finnish president, meanwhile concluded that Tuesday had been “a good day for peace,” with progress made “under the radar” on substantive and technical issues.
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-- Michael Birnbaum in Washington contributed to this report.
-- Readers' comments [996 of them in late Oct 21 USA time],
The comments express strong criticism of President Trump's handling of the Ukraine situation, accusing him of siding with Russia and undermining Ukraine's defense efforts. Many commenters express frustration over the U.S. cutting intelligence sharing with Ukraine and blame Trump and his associates for prioritizing personal and financial interests over national and international security. There is also significant concern about Elon Musk's involvement in slowing down Starlink services, which is seen as detrimental to Ukraine's defense capabilities. Overall, the sentiment is one of disappointment and anger towards the current administration's foreign policy decisions.
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Francesca Ebel is a Ukraine correspondent for The Washington Post and a former Russia correspondent. Before joining The Post in 2022, Ebel was based in Tunisia with The Associated Press where she led the agency's North Africa coverage; follow on X@FrancescaEbel
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