US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday after what a US official called 'constructive' talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway, Reuters reported. The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ukraine brought forward new ideas and proposals to the Oslo talks, which also involved the leaders of Norway and Finland and European and NATO representatives, and that participants made 'meaningful progress' toward a coordinated approach to engaging Russia.

The talks covered 'key elements of a comprehensive peace framework', including security guarantees for Ukraine, a postwar economic plan and a broader European security architecture, the US official told Reuters, adding that Witkoff would aim to 'create a pathway toward direct trilateral and broader multilateral negotiations'. Zelenskyy said he had discussed 'Article 5-like' security guarantees — referring to the NATO stipulation that an attack on one ally is an attack on all. 'I am thankful to the American side that they underlined again that it will be strong,' he said. Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called the hastily convened Oslo meeting constructive 'and necessary after the past week', and Finland's President Alexander Stubb said: 'There has been progress under the radar over the past week. Now we are back on track,' Sweden Herald reported. Zelenskyy proposed a three-way meeting between himself, Trump and Putin, saying territorial questions should only be raised at the highest political level: 'I want the Americans to bring these ideas to the Russians, a meeting with all three of us. Then we'll see what Putin says about it,' Sweden Herald reported him as saying.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Ukraine to make a deal to settle the war with Russia. 'Ukraine has to want to settle this war,' Trump told reporters, Reuters reported. Zelenskyy had travelled to Oslo seeking to repair relations with Washington, which have sunk to new lows; Trump's recent gestures toward Moscow, including a deal to buy Russian diesel and a waiver of new sanctions, have sparked bipartisan pushback in the US Congress and worry in European capitals, The Guardian reported. The Kremlin, for its part, said on Tuesday that it hoped a meeting in Russia between Putin and Witkoff could be organised in the near future to discuss the Ukraine peace process and a range of 'very important issues', Reuters reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Witkoff could brief Putin on the position of the Ukrainians and the Europeans when they met; some US media have reported that Witkoff may meet Putin on Wednesday in St Petersburg.

Trump also said on Tuesday he has raised with Putin the issue of Stephen Hubbard, a retired American school teacher held by Moscow, and hinted that a development in the case could happen soon, Reuters reported. Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter, that Elon Musk last week ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of SpaceX's Starlink satellite service — known as Starshield — that Ukraine relies on for battlefield communications and drone operations; that is the Journal's reported claim. Musk, SpaceX and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment, and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted on Tuesday that the Pentagon had not directed any changes to Starshield, saying: 'We haven't pulled anything back.' Trump said on Friday he did not request any curbs to Starshield.

Sources: Reuters, 'US envoy Witkoff to meet Putin, Trump presses Kyiv to settle' and 'Kremlin hopes Witkoff can brief Putin soon on latest Ukrainian/European thinking on peace deal', 20 October 2026; The Guardian, Ukraine war briefing, 20-21 October 2026; Sweden Herald, 'Zelenskyy and European leaders propose three-way meeting with Trump and Putin after Oslo talks', 20 October 2026.