Leaders of Ukraine, Finland and Norway hailed progress in talks in Oslo on Tuesday about how to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but they did not announce any breakthroughs.
“I think we made genuine progress today,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who co-hosted the talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at the request of Ukraine.
They were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s envoy, as well as representatives from France, Germany, the UK, Poland, the EU and Nato.
In a press conference after the talks, Stubb said that progress had been made on sticking points to do with Ukraine’s security and the economy, and those proposals would be taken by Witkoff to St Petersburg, where he is set to meet Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
Støre and Zelenskyy said they hoped the ideas could pave the way for a leaders-level summit between presidents Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin.
But the talks come as relations between Trump and Zelenskyy have nosedived, reaching their lowest point since their public spat in the Oval Office last year.
Trump persisted with his criticism of Zelenskyy on Tuesday. “Ukraine has to want to settle this war. Zelenskyy has to want to settle this war,” the US president said. “We have given tremendous amounts to Ukraine. We’ve got nothing back.”
Trump has leaned heavily on Ukraine to end its long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries in a bid to ease global diesel prices ahead of US midterm elections next month.
Following the Oslo discussions, Zelenskyy reiterated a willingness to halt strikes on Russia’s refineries — provided Moscow agreed to stop its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
He also said Ukraine had received “positive signals” from the US and that American intelligence sharing to warn Ukraine of Russian missile launches had been restored.
Video description
Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Oslo ahead of talks with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner
A US official said the parties involved in Tuesday’s discussions made “meaningful progress” on developing a co-ordinated approach to engaging with Russia and advancing the diplomatic process.
They added there was “strong alignment” at the working level between the US, Europe and Ukraine.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has the flu but participated in the Oslo talks virtually, the US official said. Kushner is also due to be involved in the planned meeting with Putin virtually.
Tuesday’s discussions were focused on two parallel tracks, the US official said.
The first is centred on securing Ukraine’s long-term future through security guarantees, closer integration with Europe and a postwar economic plan to support reconstruction and investment.
The second seeks to lay the groundwork for a lasting peace with Russia, including proposals for new European security arrangements while exploring opportunities for postwar economic co-operation with Moscow.
European officials are eager to ensure they have a voice in the talks after several moves by Trump that have alleviated pressure on Putin.
This month Trump announced he had struck a deal with Putin to lift sanctions on Russian diesel in a bid to tame energy prices. On Friday the US president opted not to impose further sanctions on Moscow’s war economy as mandated by new American legislation.
Unexplained restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications system have caused dismay in Kyiv.
Ukrainian soldiers use Starlink terminals to fly drones targeting Russian positions beyond the front line.
Multiple Ukrainian units began reporting last week that drones flying faster than 160kph would cause the Starlink system to stop working, a limitation Kyiv said was still active on Monday.
Washington denied throttling the Starlink system in Ukraine, but Zelenskyy insisted last week the restrictions were part of a “planned operation”.
Kyiv has also suggested that Ukraine would refrain from hitting Russia’s refineries if Washington agreed to provide additional US-made air defence interceptors able to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles.
One senior Ukrainian official described the suggestion as a “last option” in the face of US insistence that Kyiv stop hitting energy infrastructure.
Witkoff is expected to use his planned meeting with Putin seek the release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired American schoolteacher who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than four years.
Hubbard, who is in his seventies, was captured by Russian forces from Izyum in eastern Ukraine in April 2022, where he had lived for several years while the city was under occupation.
He was sentenced to almost seven years’ imprisonment, accused of fighting on behalf of Ukraine — charges that Hubbard’s lawyer has denied. Hubbard was deemed wrongfully detained by the US government in 2025.
Previous hostage deals have often involved the US or other western governments releasing convicted Russians in exchange.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia and the US were “in contact” over their citizens detained in each other’s countries.
“Dialogue is ongoing through intelligence channels,” he said, referring to Hubbard’s possible release.
Additional reporting by Anastasia Stognei in Berlin