US intelligence sharing with Ukraine for early warnings of Russian attack is working again, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday, Oct. 20, following talks in Oslo, Norway. Kyiv had spent a week already without US intelligence ahead of the meeting.
“We are thankful that intelligence works now,” Zelensky said. “I think we will have good results.”
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Following talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Zelensky said Ukraine could see results within the next 48 hours on Patriot interceptors, intelligence sharing and Starlink restrictions.
He described the conversation as substantive and positive, with both sides agreeing on the next steps.
Witkoff to visit Moscow with fresh proposals
Senior US envoy Steve Witkoff is set to travel to St. Petersburg to present Russia’s leadership with proposals drawn up during talks with Ukrainian and European leaders in Oslo on Tuesday, Oct. 20, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.
Støre spoke during a joint news conference with Zelensky and Finnish President Alexander Stubb following a meeting with Witkoff. Ukraine’s security, its postwar prosperity, territorial questions and sanctions were covered during the discussion.
Zelensky said the sides discussed several types of security guarantees set out in a draft document. The proposals would be passed to the Russian side and Kyiv would then wait for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response.
Witkoff attended in person, while his negotiating partner Jared Kushner joined by video after falling ill with the flu, Norwegian newspaper VG reported.
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“All of us want peace, and we will see what will be tomorrow,” Zelensky said.
Moscow signals openness to US proposals – rules out concessions
The Kremlin, for its part, signaled openness to US proposals, but strictly ruled out concessions of territory.
“We’ll see what they propose,” Russia’s Foreign Miniser Sergey Lavrov said, according to Russian state-owned media TASS.
“If they propose something that benefits us economically and financially then why not? But it should not involve any political concessions on our part,” he continued.
Moscow has long demanded that Ukraine withdraw from the parts of Donetsk region it still controls and cede the entire territory, give up its bid to join NATO and accept limits on the size of its armed forces.
Kyiv, however, has repeatedly rejected having to give up its territorial sovereignty as part of any possible peace settlement.
Zelensky points to Russian support for Iran
Asked about US President Donald Trump’s reluctance to put too much pressure on Putin due to fears that Moscow could increase its backing for Iran, Zelensky said he could not say whether Putin was using Iran as leverage.
He did say that Ukraine had seen evidence of Russian drone components delivered to Iran and said Russian satellite intelligence was being shared with Tehran.
“I know that Russia stays on the side of Iranians,” Zelensky said.
Leaders urge focus on the future
Zelensky, Stubb and Støre stressed that no decisions about Ukraine’s future should be made without Kyiv at the table. Støre urged participants to set aside the heated rhetoric of recent days and focus on the path ahead, and Stubb agreed.
Zelensky thanked Norway for hosting the talks, calling it one of the countries doing the most to help Ukraine protect lives.
“Ukraine wants peace more than anyone. It was Russia that started this war,” Zelensky said.
Peace push resumes after a week of diplomatic tensions
After more than a week of tensions between Kyiv and Washington, diplomacy appears to be gaining momentum again.
The latest round of shuttle diplomacy began on the weekend of Sept. 5–6. Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow and then traveled to Kyiv the next day, in what marked their first visit to Ukraine despite repeated trips to Russia.
Although all three sides – the US, Russia and Ukraine – described the meetings as positive and substantive, no breakthrough was reached in ending Russia’s aggression.
Relations deteriorated after Trump struck an abrupt diesel deal with Putin on Oct. 9, on the same day that Ukrainian delegation was in Miami hoping to negotiate an end to the war with Trump’s administration.
Ukraine then faced restrictions on Starlink terminals without prior warning and a week-long pause in US intelligence sharing, although US officials denied responsibility in either of those.