Zelenskyy Arrives in Oslo for Talks on the War and European Security as U.S. Envoy Heads to Norway

OSLO

Ukraine's diplomatic week moved north on Tuesday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is arriving in Oslo for talks on the war in Ukraine and European security, the Norwegian government and co-host Finland said — a meeting held at Zelenskyy's own request, in a capital that has become one of Kyiv's steadiest backers, and at a moment when the American-led effort to end the war is picking up speed again.

A meeting Zelenskyy asked for

The shape of the day is set by the two host governments. The Office of the President of Finland announced, in press release 64/2026 dated October 20, that President Alexander Stubb will make a working visit to Oslo on Tuesday, where he will meet Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway and President Zelenskyy. "The discussions between the Presidents and the Prime Minister will cover Russia's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and the overall security situation in Europe," the Finnish statement said.

Støre put the initiative plainly on Zelenskyy himself. "President Zelenskiy has asked Norway and Finland to arrange a meeting as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts, at a critical time for Ukraine," the Norwegian prime minister said in a statement reported by Reuters. The three leaders — Zelenskyy, Stubb and Støre — will hold a press conference later on Tuesday, Norway said. That press conference is the day's first hard checkpoint: it is where any agreed language on security guarantees, aid, or a negotiating position would surface in public.

The American track running alongside

Running alongside the Nordic meeting is a second, American track. Reuters reported on Monday that President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Norway this week for a round of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, and that Zelenskiy and European representatives were expected to attend. The official statements from Norway and Finland about Tuesday's trilateral meeting made no mention of any U.S. or European delegations — a gap worth noting, because it means the public, confirmed part of the day is the Zelenskyy-Stubb-Støre meeting, while the wider negotiating format rests on reporting rather than on a host government's announcement.

That wider reporting is detailed. According to a U.S. official cited in reports carried by European outlets, the Oslo discussions are expected to include Støre, representatives of the E4 — Britain, France, Germany and Poland — the European Union and NATO, alongside Zelenskyy. The objective, the official said, is to coordinate a comprehensive proposal that could provide the basis for renewed negotiations with Russia. Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and adviser, spoke with Zelenskyy on Sunday to review progress and discuss next steps; Kushner is expected to participate in the Oslo discussions virtually because he has the flu. After Oslo, Witkoff is planning to travel to Russia, where he hopes to meet President Vladimir Putin and present ideas developed in consultation with Ukraine and European partners, the official said.

Trump's pressure, and Moscow's answer

The diplomacy is unfolding under open pressure from Washington. Trump said Monday that it may be time for someone other than Zelenskyy to negotiate on Kyiv's behalf. "I think it's time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine because what's happened? A tremendous number of people are dead. They're losing their male population," he told reporters. "Maybe it's time for Zelenskyy to get somebody else to negotiate." Previously covered that Paris remark and the reaction to it in its earlier report on Trump's comments.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia highly values U.S. mediation efforts to resolve the conflict, while adding that a final settlement would require the participation of someone from Kyiv willing to take responsibility. The two statements, read together, frame the argument Oslo has to answer: both Washington and Moscow are publicly questioning who speaks for Ukraine, even as Ukraine's president flies to a European capital to do exactly that, flanked by two of Europe's most security-focused leaders.

Not the first round — and the war has not paused

There is history behind the format. Witkoff and Kushner last met Putin in Moscow on September 5, holding more than three hours of talks on possible ways to end the war; the meeting produced no public breakthrough, although both sides described the discussions positively. The envoys traveled to Kyiv the following day to meet Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials, with talks covering security guarantees and postwar economic recovery. The Oslo proposals have taken shape after a further week of consultations among American, Ukrainian and European officials, with Zelenskyy agreeing to work through ideas from earlier discussions in Miami to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive deal.

While the diplomats travel, the war continues on its own schedule. Ukraine's emergency service said an overnight Russian airstrike killed three people and injured another six in the region surrounding Kyiv, striking a production and warehouse building where a fire was later extinguished, according to the service's post on Telegram reported in live coverage on Tuesday. Russia's Defence Ministry, for its part, said its forces struck three cargo vessels in Ukraine's port of Reni and another vessel en route to Odesa, along with logistics hubs in the Volyn region and in Khmelnitskiy, saying all were being used for military purposes. Neither claim could be independently verified in the first hours of Tuesday.

What to watch next

Three things will decide whether Oslo was a photo opportunity or a turning point. First, the joint press conference later Tuesday: whether Zelenskyy, Stubb and Støre speak in one voice, and what they say about security guarantees. Second, confirmation of the wider table — whether the E4, EU and NATO representatives meet as reported, and whether a coordinated proposal is described in any agreed terms. Third, the Moscow leg: whether Witkoff's planned trip to present the ideas to Putin is confirmed, and on what timetable. For European readers watching their morning headlines, the significance is already clear enough — the effort to end Europe's war is, for this week at least, being run out of Oslo.