Zelenskyy meets US envoys in Oslo amid dispute over Ukraine support

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was set to meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff and European leaders in Oslo on Tuesday as a dispute over American military support strained efforts to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was expected to join by video link. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Zelenskyy had asked Norway and Finland to arrange the meeting with US and European allies “at a critical time for Ukraine.” Støre said the aim was to put relations on “a more constructive path” and pursue a lasting, just peace through diplomacy.

The Norwegian government said Finnish President Alexander Stubb would attend. The BBC also reported that representatives from Britain, Poland, France, Germany, the European Union and NATO were expected. Al Jazeera reported that Finland’s prime minister would be present as well.

The talks follow Zelenskyy’s complaints that Ukraine has not received reliable US warnings of Russian missile attacks, is facing restrictions on SpaceX’s military-grade Starshield internet service and is waiting for crucial missile interceptors. In an address to a bipartisan US congressional delegation on Monday, he said the problems suggested “some political decision has been made to slow down support for us,” according to NBC News.

Zelenskyy said he had a “substantive conversation” with Secretary of State Marco Rubio before the Oslo meeting about missile interceptors, early warnings and satellite internet. He described their discussion as constructive but did not say whether Rubio had committed to resolving those concerns.

Rubio rejected the suggestion that Washington was deliberately withholding help. “There’s nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine,” he told reporters Tuesday, according to NBC News. Responding to allegations that a lack of US intelligence warnings was costing Ukrainian lives, he called the claim “scandalous” and “outrageous.” Rubio acknowledged that Patriot interceptor missiles might not yet have reached Ukraine but said nothing had been intentionally denied.

Serhii Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian military technical adviser, told the BBC that inconsistent US warnings were costing lives. “Sometimes we receive this information before the attack, another time we [do] not,” he said.

Trump has publicly criticized Zelenskyy, saying Monday that it was time for “somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.” The US has also lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports. Zelenskyy called the move a “reward” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that it would embolden him. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, describing “mixed pictures and messages” from Washington, said Monday that he was urging the US government to work with Europe on resolving the war.

The diplomacy unfolded amid continued strikes. A Russian drone hit a highway between Kyiv and the Black Sea port of Odesa on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring four, Kyiv’s regional prosecutor’s office said. More than 32,000 families lost electricity after strikes hit three energy facilities in the southern Odesa region, Ukraine’s private energy company DTEK said. In Russia’s Tambov region, Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at an oil pumping station; he said four drones were intercepted.