Zelenskyy meets in Oslo with U.S. envoy Witkoff and announces Washington resumed early missile warning

OSLO. — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met this Tuesday in Oslo with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, in a meeting organized by Norway and Finland to steer diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine, amid deteriorating relations between Kyiv and Washington.

The meeting was convened by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, with the participation of security officials from the European Union and the United Kingdom, and with Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, joining by videoconference, according to press reports. Zelenskyy and Witkoff greeted each other with a hug as they entered the talks.

After the meeting, the Ukrainian leader announced that the United States has resumed sending intelligence on Russian missile launches, a flow that had been interrupted for several days. "We are very thankful that this works now," Zelenskyy said at a press conference, referring to the early-warning system that allows the civilian population to be alerted and gives military units time to try to intercept ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy added that he held a "positive" phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is traveling in Asia. Rubio acknowledged mutual frustration between Washington and Kyiv over intelligence cooperation and arms supplies but denied that the Trump administration has changed its policy, the AP reported.

The Ukrainian leader also said he offered to suspend Ukraine's long-range attacks against Russian oil refineries if the United States provides Kyiv with Patriot air-defense interceptors, and he rejected the idea of a trilateral summit with Putin and Trump —floated by Moscow— insisting there can be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. Witkoff would later travel to St. Petersburg, according to the BBC.

Photo: AP

Source: Reuters and The Associated Press.