Zelenskyy and Witkoff begin talks in Norway: Initial details emerge

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre are also participating in the negotiations between Zelenskyy and Witkoff.

It is expected that the second US President's special envoy, Jared Kushner, will participate in the meeting online.

Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine continues to work toward peace. He also thanked partners for their support.

During the meeting, Witkoff embraced Zelenskyy. He made this demonstrative gesture against the backdrop of tensions in relations between Kyiv and Washington.

Photo: Zelenskyy and Witkoff begin talks in Norway

Ukraine-US negotiations

The previous meeting of the Ukrainian and American delegations was ended prematurely because Washington reached a diesel deal with Moscow at the exact moment the Ukrainian negotiating team was in Miami.

At that time, a crisis emerged in relations between Ukraine and the US. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly criticized the decision of US President Donald Trump, emphasizing that the Ukrainian delegation in the US had been used as a "smokescreen."

In turn, Trump began regularly criticizing Zelenskyy. In particular, he claimed that it was "not worth dealing with" the Ukrainian President. Furthermore, according to the US President, it is easier to get along with Russian President Vladimir Putin than with Zelenskyy.

Yesterday, October 19, Trump went so far as to praise Russia, stating that it is "behaving normally" on the issue of Ukraine. At the same time, in his view, Zelenskyy should not be the one conducting negotiations on behalf of Ukraine.

At the same time, it was revealed that Washington might be delaying the transfer of critically important Patriot system missiles to Ukraine, and has also restricted the operation of Starlink in Ukraine.