Washington / Kyiv, 21 October. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff called the talks in Oslo and St Petersburg constructive and said they would continue in a three-way format involving the United States, Russia and Ukraine at technical level, while US President Donald Trump said he was not imposing new sanctions on Russia because the sides are close to a deal.
Witkoff wrote about the talks on the social network X. Together with Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law, he met Russian, Ukrainian and European leaders in Oslo and St Petersburg; with Russian President Vladimir Putin they discussed the framework of a peace settlement in order to build on the progress made in Oslo at the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and thanked Putin for releasing American Stephen Hubbard. Witkoff did not say where the next round would be held. Kushner said encouraging progress had been made and there was a chance of lasting peace. After St Petersburg, Witkoff spent about an hour in Oslo with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and then flew to the US; what they discussed has not been disclosed.
Zelensky said that Russia had agreed to a three-way meeting of Russian, Ukrainian and US delegations. In his words, the Americans propose holding it as soon as possible, Ukraine hopes for talks in early November, but the final date has not been agreed. The main purpose of the meeting is to prepare talks between Trump, Zelensky and Putin at leaders' level; a ceasefire, strikes on energy infrastructure, prisoner exchanges and security guarantees are to be discussed.
At a round table broadcast on the White House YouTube channel, Trump said the conflict in Ukraine may now be closer to ending than ever before. Explaining his refusal to impose new sanctions, he said the US is negotiating with Russia on Ukraine, that the sides may be close to a deal for the first time in a long time, and that when you are close to a deal and in delicate negotiations, you do not impose sanctions. Trump also said he had no involvement in restricting Ukraine's access to Starshield satellite communications and did not know who had initiated it.
At the same time, according to The New York Times, as cited by RBC, Witkoff and Kushner reproached Zelensky in Norway for his sharp responses to Trump's criticism and told him that his behaviour had enraged the US president; Zelensky tried to object and at one point said he had never said such a thing. The Atlantic writes that Ukrainian officials fear a settlement that ignores their position, and names three events important for Kyiv: the US congressional elections, the APEC summit in China, where a meeting of Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump may take place, and the G20 summit in Miami, at which Trump would like to sign a peace agreement.
What it means: After the meetings in Oslo and St Petersburg, the US is moving the talks to expert level with all three parties involved, and Trump is directly linking his refusal to impose new sanctions on Russia to the course of these talks.
Who benefits: Russia — while talks are under way, there will be no new US sanctions, according to Trump. Ukraine gets the three-way format that, according to Zelensky, Moscow has agreed to, but its officials, according to The Atlantic, fear a settlement will be prepared without taking their position into account.
Background: During the day on 21 October, Moscow said it was ready to return to three-way talks at expert level in mid-November, possibly in Abu Dhabi, while Zelensky told Fox News he was ready to freeze the front line if Ukraine kept at least 75% of its territory. The sides' timelines do not yet match: Moscow spoke of mid-November, while Kyiv hopes for the beginning of the month.
List of sources used: RBC, TASS, Militarist
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
