Zelensky meets US envoy Witkoff for talks in Oslo

In Oslo, Ukrainian President Zelensky will meet US envoy Vitkoff for talks. Recently, relations between the US and Ukraine had deteriorated again because of Trump’s dealings with Russia. As part of the diplomatic efforts to end the war of aggression in Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is meeting US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo today. "President Zelenskyi has asked Norway and Finland to organise a meeting as part of the ongoing diplomatic mediation efforts," the Norwegian government said. Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, will be digitally connected at the meeting. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb will also take part in the talks. “The aim is to steer diplomatic efforts back into more constructive directions,” Støre said, according to the news agency NTB. New Trump criticism of Zelensky Another goal of the meeting is likely to be to cement relations with the US government, which have deteriorated again in the past two weeks. Trump, who has suspended US sanctions against Russia in order to lower fuel prices in the US, had repeatedly criticized Zelensky. Most recently, the US President had accused Ukraine of lack of compensation for the support of the US. “We gave Ukraine a lot – it gave us nothing,” he said in Washington. “Russia has behaved correctly with regard to Ukraine,” Trump said. Zelensky "does not help the matter." Ukraine must find “someone else for the negotiations”. Trump has changed his course in the Ukraine war several times within his presidency. However, he always stands out with positions close to Russia, such as the suspension of the new US sanctions, the resignation demands against Zelensky or accusations that Russia “would like to make a deal” but the Ukrainian president “for whatever reason” does not. Ukraine complains of withholding weapons Zelensky, meanwhile, according to a report by the portal Axios, complained that Washington withheld arms supplies. As a result, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is said to have not approved the delivery of Patriot and other air defense missiles, although NATO countries have already paid for them. A senior ministry official disagreed with this account. In the program with which NATO countries buy US weapons for Ukraine, there have been no changes, he told the news agency dpa. In a post on X this morning, Zelenskyi wrote that he had had a “constructive conversation” with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “I am grateful for his willingness to help and his clear stance.” With information from Jana Sinram, ARD Stockholm