Witkoff plans Norway visit for Ukraine talks as Kyiv offers 30-day halt to refinery strikes
Key Facts
Steve Witkoff plans to travel to Norway this week for a new round of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with arrangements for the visit. The sources said the schedule of upcoming meetings remained tentative and subject to change as preparations for the talks continued. Jared Kushner is expected to participate virtually because of illness, the same sources said. According to Reuters sources, discussions on securing the release of detained U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard are linked to the upcoming talks in Russia. The diplomatic push comes as Kyiv has proposed halting attacks on Russian refineries in exchange for U.S. air defence assistance, while Washington and Ukraine continue contacts over the negotiating process.
Against the backdrop of the planned round, the Ukrainian presidency confirmed that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had discussed the outcome of a meeting between Ukrainian and U.S. teams in Florida with Witkoff and Kushner. The presidency said the negotiating teams maintained near-constant contact as part of exchanges between the two sides. Zelenskiy stressed the role of strength in achieving peace, saying, according to the presidential statement: "Peace can only be achieved through strength." The Ukrainian president also linked this to cooperation based on trust, as part of his position on efforts to end the war. On coordination with the host country, the Ukrainian presidency said after a call between Zelenskiy and Norway's prime minister that the two sides were continuing to coordinate and prepare for joint meetings and decisions.
Ukraine's proposal regarding Russian refineries involves suspending strikes for 30 days in exchange for U.S. assistance to protect Ukrainian airspace with Patriot missiles over the same period, Zelenskiy said. Kyiv's proposed exchange links a halt to attacks on refineries to the provision of air defence, with both proposed commitments lasting the same length of time. The Ukrainian president presented the proposal during an online meeting with a U.S. congressional delegation, according to a presidential statement issued on 19 October 2026. Zelenskiy also discussed accelerating deliveries of Patriot interceptor missiles under the programme to purchase weapons for Ukraine. His discussions with members of Congress thus covered both the proposed assistance in exchange for halting strikes and faster delivery of interceptor missiles.
During the same meeting, Zelenskiy raised speed restrictions on the Starlink and Starshield services, saying they were hampering supply operations on the front line. He added, according to the Ukrainian presidency, that the restrictions also affected Ukraine's medium-range strikes and efforts to counter Russian drones. He also said Ukraine had received no warning from its partners about the first wave of ballistic missile strikes on the night before the meeting. In a separate assessment of battlefield conditions, Zelenskiy said in an address dated 18 October 2026 that Ukrainian forces had recaptured more territory since the start of autumn than Russian forces had seized. The Ukrainian president based that comparison on the results of operations since the start of autumn, as diplomatic contacts over the war continued.
On the parallel humanitarian track, Britain announced that it would host talks in London to advance efforts to secure the release and return of civilian detainees. Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement published on 2 October 2026 that the talks aimed to make progress towards practical pathways for securing their release and return. The initiative announced by London covers civilian detainees as part of humanitarian diplomatic efforts linked to the war. On the U.S. track, Reuters sources said the case of detained citizen Stephen Hubbard would be discussed at the upcoming talks in Russia. Preparations for the London talks on civilian detainees are therefore proceeding alongside contacts concerning the U.S. citizen, as well as the negotiating round Witkoff plans to hold in Norway.
The diplomatic preparations coincide with Norwegian plans to continue funding Ukraine next year, according to Ukraine's finance ministry. The ministry said in a statement dated 17 October 2026 that Norway planned to maintain funding in 2027 at the 2026 level. That level amounts to 85 billion Norwegian crowns, equivalent to about $9 billion, according to the same statement. The plan would maintain the annual funding level as Kyiv and Oslo continue preparing for joint meetings and decisions at the political level. The next diplomatic stop is the round of talks for which Witkoff plans to travel to Norway this week, with the schedule remaining tentative and subject to change, according to Reuters sources.