On Monday evening, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that contacts were ongoing and that a meeting with the American mediators could take place "in the coming days", perhaps in Norway.
Now he is on his way, the Norwegian government announces at short notice. Zelenskyy will meet "among others" Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
"President Zelenskyy has asked Norway and Finland to arrange a meeting in line with the ongoing diplomatic work, at a crucial time for Ukraine," Støre announced.
President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff is also on his way to Oslo, reports the news site Axios, which often cites informed US government sources.
Disruption in defense systems
According to Axios, the talks on the war will involve Zelenskyy, representatives from the EU and NATO, as well as France, Poland, the UK and Germany. Witkoff is said to be travelling to Russia next for further talks.
A press conference of some kind is planned in Oslo later in the day.
Trump accuses Ukraine, the country under attack, of being less compliant than Russia, the invading country.
Trump has lifted sanctions on Russia in a deal on Russian diesel exports, at least for the time being. Ukraine has had major problems with intelligence and technology used to prevent Russian bombing. During the Russian attacks on Monday night, the systems are said not to have provided advance warning as they usually do.
According to Zelenskyy, the US is deliberately making things difficult for Ukraine as a political decision. He also says the US military is withholding promised deliveries of Patriot air defense systems.
“Time for someone else”
Zelenskyy doesn't know what he's talking about, Donald Trump told a press briefing at the White House, where he accused the Ukrainian president of letting the war rage on because he "didn't listen."
I honestly think it's time for someone else to negotiate for Ukraine.
The US president has repeatedly veered sharply in attempts at peace talks, at times exerting more aggressive pressure on Ukraine than on Russia. Trump wants Ukraine to stop attacking Russia's oil sector, the most important source of revenue for the Russian war economy, at a time when the US war in the Middle East has caused fuel prices to soar even in the US.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly looking to hold a summit with Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Trump says he is open to such a meeting.
I would do that. Not so much for (the issue of) Ukraine, because Russia has been quite okay in Ukraine, they haven't done much.
