The meeting was announced only on Tuesday morning. Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Oslo early and had time to meet King Haakon. Then US envoy Steve Witkoff landed and walked with bodyguards up the chilly Karl Johan Street towards the palace, stopping a few times to take selfies with curious Norwegians.
A meeting has begun at the Norwegian government's representative office in the leafy diplomatic quarter behind the palace, with about ten participants. Shivering police officers armed with automatic weapons are directing surprised autumn joggers through the palace park, where they weave between police and diplomatic cars.
"I want to point out that this has come about over the course of a few days," said the host, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, ahead of the meeting, according to Norwegian media.
“Critical time”
Diplomatic efforts to move forward during "a crucial time for Ukraine" are on the agenda, Gahr Støre said. He welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky together with visiting Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
US envoy Steve Witkoff will attend without his colleague, President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner is reportedly ill and will participate via video link.
According to the news site Axios, the talks on the war will also involve representatives from the EU and NATO, as well as France, Poland, the UK and Germany. Witkoff is reportedly due to travel to Russia next for further talks.
The meeting will be followed by a press conference at 7:15 p.m., where Gahr Støre, Stubb and Zelensky will appear and answer questions from Norwegian and international media. Steve Witkoff is not scheduled to appear.
Disruption to defence systems
Donald Trump accuses Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia, of being less compliant than the invading country.
Trump has lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports as part of a deal, at least for the time being. Ukraine has faced major problems with the intelligence and technology used to prevent Russian bombing.
According to Zelensky, the US is making a conscious political decision to make things difficult for Ukraine. He also says the US military is withholding promised deliveries of Patriot air defence systems.
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