US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia on Wednesday to present President Vladimir Putin with proposals aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said American intelligence-sharing about deadly Russian strikes now 'works.'
Zelensky's comment, made after he met Witkoff in Oslo on Tuesday, was notable because Kyiv had recently accused Washington of quietly withholding such intelligence — a claim the US had rejected as 'scandalous.' A US official described the Oslo talks, which also involved Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norway's prime minister, as 'very productive and constructive,' saying there was 'strong alignment at the working level' between the US, Ukraine and Europe on next steps.
What was agreed, and what wasn't
Stubb said 'genuine progress' had been made on proposals to end the war but offered no details, warning that patience would still be needed. Notably absent from the joint press conference in Oslo were both Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, who had joined the talks by video link — a choice that left the specifics of what was actually proposed unclear even to those tracking the negotiations closely.
It is now up to Moscow to respond. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin would 'listen to what Witkoff offers' but ruled out 'any political concessions,' a signal that Wednesday's meeting in St Petersburg was unlikely to produce an immediate breakthrough. Putin himself had not publicly commented on the Oslo talks as Witkoff's plane landed.
A relationship under strain
The visit comes as ties between Washington and Kyiv have frayed. President Trump has said it may be 'time for Ukraine to get a new president' and suggested 'somebody else' should negotiate on Ukraine's behalf — remarks that have unsettled Kyiv's European backers as much as Kyiv itself. Speaking in Oslo, Trump again said he wanted Ukraine to 'make a deal,' adding that Russia would 'like to get it done' and that it was 'time for Ukraine to end this war.'
Ahead of next month's US midterm elections, Trump has also tried to pin blame for rising fuel prices on Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil refineries — a framing Kyiv rejects, and one that Republicans in Congress have begun to publicly push back on, arguing it understates Moscow's responsibility for the war's economic fallout.
On the ground, the fighting that the diplomacy is meant to stop has not paused. Ukrainian officials said at least 10 people were killed in Russian strikes on Tuesday alone — four in Kyiv and the surrounding region, and four more in the eastern Donetsk region — underscoring the gap between the pace of talks and the pace of the war itself. Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022 and Russian forces currently hold roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
What happens next
European officials involved in the process say the real test is less what Witkoff carries to St Petersburg than whether Putin is willing to move at all after Lavrov's preemptive rejection of 'political concessions.' Kyiv and its allies have signaled they consider the ball now in Russia's court, but few in Oslo or St Petersburg expect a quick answer — and Ukrainian officials have made clear they intend to keep fighting, and keep asking for intelligence, while they wait for one.
