TOPSHOT – In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin greets US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff prior to their talks in Moscow on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Gavriil Grigorov | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that any negotiations over his country’s future must include Kyiv.
Speaking alongside the leaders of Finland and Norway in Oslo late on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said discussions with U.S. officials had been constructive and that Washington had reaffirmed its commitment to providing Ukraine with security guarantees.
But he stressed that any agreement concerning Ukraine’s future would be acceptable only if Kyiv had a seat at the negotiating table.
“It can be acceptable only when we are at the table of negotiations,” he said, adding that he had discussed the reported proposal of a trilateral meeting between the U.S., China, and Russia to negotiate an end to the almost five-year conflict with U.S. representatives. “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said.
At the start of talks in St. Petersburg, Russia announced it would release an American man who had been “wrongfully detained,” according to the State Department, on charges that he was a Ukrainian mercenary. Witkoff thanked Putin for the release of retired teacher Stephen Hubbard, according to Russian media.
(L-R) US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store enter a room for a meeting on the situation in Ukraine on October 20, 2026 in Oslo. (Photo by Heiko Junge / NTB / AFP via Getty Images) / Norway OUT
Heiko Junge | Afp | Getty Images
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said the Oslo meeting had included discussions on NATO’s Article 5 – which says that an armed attack against one member constitutes an attack on all – and “different kinds of security guarantees,” which Witkoff will share with the Russians. “We will hear his feedback in one day,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
The developments come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine as President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy have traded public criticism. Trump has accused the Ukrainian president of not wanting peace, while Zelenskyy has argued that Washington’s easing of sanctions on Russia, including a deal on diesel, risks prolonging the conflict.
Overnight, Russia struck energy and civilian targets across Ukraine, resulting in at least one casualty, according to local media reports. It follows Trump’s Oct. 11 claim that he had brokered an “energy ceasefire,” whereby the countries would refrain from striking each other’s energy infrastructure amid high diesel prices.
Ukraine paused such attacks for three days before resuming them, citing continuing Russian attacks.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy confirmed that U.S. intelligence had resumed sharing early warnings of Russian attacks, while discussions continued over SpaceX’s Starlink connectivity and Patriot air defense systems.
