Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks in Oslo with top U.S. envoys on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) in a bid to get strained relations with Washington “on a more constructive path”, Norway said.
“Ukraine is working for peace. I thank our partners for their support! Mr.
Zelensky said in a social media post after his arrival in the Norwegian capital.
Mr. Mr. Witkoff’s fellow U.S. envoy Jared Kushner — U.S. Mr. The U.S. leader has accused his counterpart of not trying to resolve the conflict with Russia. “Mr.
Zelensky doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” President Trump said on Monday (October 19). Because of illness, according to the NTB agency, president Donald Trump’s son-in-law — was also taking part in the negotiations but was doing so remotely.
Zelensky handed U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff an award in the Norwegian government’s official residence, before posing with Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, according to footage accompanying the Ukrainian leader’s post. Trump has also denied ordering a reduction in speeds on the US government-owned and—controlled Starshield network after Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX developed it, said the order could only have come from the White House. “To be honest, I think it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured since Mr. Trump partially lifted sanctions to strike a diesel-supply deal with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and slammed Mr. Zelensky as a warmonger for Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Mr. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have stalled in recent months, as Washington has shifted focus towards the war with Iran. Ahead of the meeting, Mr. Mr. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s signature. The United States has denied making any changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and Mr.
Zelensky has accused the United States of deliberately withholding vital intelligence and delaying military aid, saying on Monday (October 19) that Ukraine received no early warning of powerful Russian missile strikes that targeted energy facilities in the capital region. Rubio said on Tuesday (October 20) that Washington was not deliberately withholding supplies.
The Norway talks were set to continue into the evening, Store told reporters, with he and Mr. Zelensky set to give a press conference around 7:15 p.m. (1715 GMT) “The aim is to put diplomatic efforts on a more constructive path,” he said. Zelensky said on Tuesday (October 20) he held “substantive” and “constructive” talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which he insisted that the U.S. military satellite system Ukraine uses, Starshield, “needs to be restored” and that ballistic missile interceptors “are needed to protect lives”. Zelensky told U.S. senators on Monday (October 20) that “the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles” already paid for by European countries, and that the shipment was waiting for U.S. He said several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were still awaiting U.S. approval. “There’s nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine,” Mr. Rubio said while on a trip to India. “It’s simply, it’s a balance between our obligations to other partners and frankly our own… requirements for our own facilities as well.”
Peskov told reporters on Tuesday (October 20). News outlet Axios reported that Mr. Mr. Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China next month to discuss denuclearisation, adding that talks could also cover the Ukraine war — fuelling fears in Kyiv that it was being sidelined. President Trump, Russia’s President Putin and China’s President Xi could meet. Witkoff would travel from Oslo to Russia to meet Putin. “We hope that it will be possible to arrange a meeting in the very near future, allowing the American negotiators… Mr. Witkoff to brief President Putin on their contacts with both the Ukrainians and the Europeans,” Mr.
Trump said he was ready to meet Mr. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed earlier that “the topic of such a hypothetical has indeed been mentioned” when asked about a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday (October 18) that U.S. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that such a meeting would “only encourage Putin to continue this war”.
