Tuesday’s sudden peace talks in Oslo may result in more diplomacy and less bullying as efforts continue to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. The US special envoy Steve Witkoff was set to fly back to Oslo on Wednesday after meeting with the Russians in St Petersburg.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, a career diplomat who hosted the meeting in Oslo between Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was back on national radio Wednesday morning to sum up Tuesday’s meeting at his residence. He confirmed Witkoff’s plan to fly right back to Oslo Wednesday afternoon after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think we’re perhaps over in a new phase where the Russians are also looking for opportunities for diplomacy,” Støre told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “I think President Stubb and I managed to shape a mood that was more personal. We spoke about the issues we needed to discuss, but we also stressed we were meeting with a leader who’s under attack.”
Stubb agreed at a press conference after the meeting on Tuesday evening, claiming it had been “a good day for peace.” Zelensky noted that “we’re not losing the war, but we’re losing lots of lives and we’re losing time.”
After the lengthy afternoon meeting at Støre’s official residence just behind Norway’s Royal Palace, the Norwegian prime minister and former foreign minister noted that “we also got the US special envoy to speak well with the Ukrainian president.” Støre wants to keep the US engaged, calling the talks “concrete, good and constructive.”
Støre added that other European leaders now need to also play a stronger role in the negotations to end the war. “It’s on our continent this is happening,” Støre told NRK. “We can’t put all the cards in the laps of the Americans.”
Diplomacy been overshadowed by US President Donald Trump’s latest round of verbal attacks on Zelensky, during which he even suggested that it was time “Ukraine gets a new president.” Trump has appeared to favour Putin and Russia over Zelensky and Ukraine, even though it was Putin that launched the war by invading Ukraine in February 2022. Trump has also recently stunned his own NATO allies, including Norway, by agreeing to buy Russian oil and gas, all but overturning western sanctions against Russia.
Trump has since been branded by some critics as “the traitor-in-chief,” while European allies feel even more threatened if Trump allows Putin to prevail. Zelensky asked Norway’s Støre to host the new round of talks with Trump’s envoy Witkoff in Oslo, and Støre was “happy to do so,” with Finland’s President Stubb taking part as well.
Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio later branded the talks in Oslo as “positive,” adding that they may lead to some progress in the peace negotiations. Russia, meanwhile, went on to attack several more power plants Ukraine during the night. News bureau Reuters reported that the attacks, which also killed more Ukrainians, were in the regions around Kyiv and Odessa and also targeted transport infrastructure. Civilian homes in the Kherson area were also bombed.
Norway’s prime minister made it clear at the outset that his goal was “to get the diplomatic work on to a more constructive track.” Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner did not travel to Oslo, reportedly because of illness, but followed the talks digitally on Tuesday as did several others in Great Britain, Germany, Poland, France, the EU and NATO.
Norwegian foreign policy experts have said it’s critical to improve relations between Ukraine and the US, while Trump remains the wild card of sorts. “Even if relations between Trump and Zelensky get better again, it doesn’t seem to last,” Hilmar Mjelde, a professor of political science at the Norway’s College of Vestland, told NRK. “Trump keeps trying to pressure Ukraine into giving up the war.”
Others were more optimistic, including Nataliya Yeremeyeva, a Ukrainian adviser to Norway’s largest labour federation LO. “What we’re witnessing now is another line of diplomacy, with Norway and Finland as partners on Ukraine’s side,” Yeremeyeva told NRK. “This isn’t just peace talks, it’s a diplomatic solution that’s beginning to form.”
Zelensky, meanwhile, was still in Oslo on Wednesday, visiting the Parliament (Stortinget) and meeting with its president, who’s second in line to the monarch as chief of state. Zelensky has long been a welcome guest at Stortinget, and would also be meeting with MP Peter Frølich of the Conservative Party, who’s played a major role in sending aid to Ukraine.
Frølich has personally been involved in driving donated vehicles to Ukraine and even smuggling drones into the war-torn country back in 2023. Frølich also helped co-found Fritt Ukraina (Free Ukraine), Norway’s largest volunteer aid organization for Ukraine.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund