Witkoff heads to Russia on Wednesday to advance Ukraine peace talks

Key Facts

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Russia on Wednesday to advance peace talks on Ukraine, a U.S. official confirmed to Radio Free Europe, in a move aimed at paving the way for direct negotiations. A U.S. official quoted by Reuters said Witkoff was seeking a path to direct trilateral talks alongside broader multilateral negotiations. The move follows talks in Oslo that addressed a framework encompassing security guarantees for Ukraine and postwar economic and security arrangements. Finnish President Alexander Stubb said after those talks, according to Reuters: "I think the peace process is back on track." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, stressed that his country must be present at any negotiations concerning its future, saying this could happen "only when we are at the negotiating table."

The Kremlin said a meeting between Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin would allow the U.S. envoy to brief Moscow on Ukrainian and European positions on a settlement to the war. Reuters quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Witkoff could present those positions to Putin during their meeting. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed Moscow's readiness to hear new U.S. proposals on Ukraine, according to news agencies cited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. But he said he did not expect a "miracle" from Washington, coupling willingness to hear the proposals with reservations about what they might achieve. On the U.S. side, President Donald Trump continued to press Kyiv on Tuesday, saying in remarks carried by Reuters: "Ukraine has to want to settle this war."

The talks on a comprehensive framework addressed security guarantees for Ukraine, according to the U.S. official who spoke to Reuters about the discussions. They also included a postwar economic plan as part of the framework under consideration. The official added that the discussions covered broader European security arrangements alongside the guarantees for Ukraine and the economic plan. Before the Oslo talks, Trump signed an executive order on Friday suspending a sweeping new package of sanctions targeting the Russian economy, according to the Associated Press. Trump justified easing sanctions on Russian diesel as an effort to lower U.S. fuel prices, according to Reuters. Securing Russian concessions in return was a diplomatic gamble behind the move.

The Russian diesel deal drew opposition in the U.S. Senate, expressed in a statement issued on the Sunday before the Oslo talks, according to the Associated Press. The statement was signed by 4 Republican senators objecting to the deal struck by the administration. They were joined by two Democratic senators, bringing together bipartisan objections to the handling of Russian diesel. The signatories said the administration had not consulted Congress on the deal, according to the agency's account of their statement. The objections came before the Oslo talks, which covered Ukraine's postwar security and economy, as Washington sought to open a direct and broader negotiating track to end the conflict.

On military support, Zelensky said after the Oslo talks that U.S. early warnings of Russian missile attacks had resumed, according to Agence France-Presse. Commenting on intelligence cooperation, he added: "We are grateful that intelligence is working," referring to the resumption of those warnings. The United States had denied making any changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, according to the agency. In a separate matter concerning air defense supplies, Zelensky accused the U.S. Defense Department of delaying the delivery of interceptor missiles. He said European countries had paid for the missiles and that the shipment was awaiting the signature of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. AFP quoted him as saying that "the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of the missiles," identifying the institution he held responsible for the delay.

The expected follow-up to the Oslo talks includes Starshield, which Zelensky said could be the subject of another call within 48 hours, according to AFP. The Ukrainian president framed the timing as tentative, saying: "We decided that perhaps we would have another call within 48 hours." On the diplomatic front, Witkoff will meet Putin during his planned visit to Russia on Wednesday, according to Axios's reporting on the meeting. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser, will participate virtually, the website said. The meeting is part of the U.S. effort to advance peace negotiations, with Witkoff seeking to pave the way for the direct trilateral talks and broader multilateral negotiations described by the U.S. official to Reuters.