US envoys were due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway on Tuesday, as kyiv scrambles to respond to a US pressure campaign combined with moves to court the Kremlin.
President Donald Trump’s negotiators, son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, have had little success so far in finding a diplomatic solution to the war. Their latest meeting comes amid uncertainty over Washington’s support for kyiv, as Zelensky accused the United States of withdrawing crucial support for his country’s defense against Russia – a suggestion that Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “scandalous.”
Witkoff will meet Zelenskyy in Oslo on Tuesday, with Kushner via video conference, the Norwegian government said. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb will also join the negotiations, the statement added.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials were scheduled to meet in Norway this week for a new round of negotiations, sources familiar with the matter told NBC News, as a series of recent actions by Trump in favor of Russia has caused Congress and U.S. allies to question U.S. mediation efforts.
Trump lifted sanctions and struck a diesel deal with Russia, in an apparent bid to lower fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections. He called on Zelensky on Monday to “make someone else negotiate,” his latest rebuke to the Ukrainian president.
Trump also appeared to downplay the impact of Russian attacks on Ukraine, an almost daily reality for four and a half years, which have killed many civilians and razed cities.
“Frankly, Russia is doing well with Ukraine,” Trump told reporters. “They didn’t do much.”
It was the latest public sign of his distancing from Ukraine.
kyiv said it again received no early warning from the United States before the capital was attacked by Russian ballistic missiles on Sunday, the third time in recent days.
In addition to the withholding of intelligence, Ukraine said it still faced speed restrictions on Starshield, the military version of the SpaceX service, with no explanation from the United States.
“All of this suggests that a political decision was made to slow down the support we receive,” Zelenskyy said Monday in a virtual speech to a bipartisan congressional delegation. He also said the United States was delaying the delivery of crucial ballistic missile interceptors.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday morning that he had “a substantive conversation” with Rubio, focused on missile interceptors, early warning of ballistic attacks and Starshield restrictions. He thanked Rubio and “everyone in America who supports equitable approaches.”
Rubio later told reporters that he told Zelensky during the 45-minute call that nothing had changed in U.S. support for Ukraine.
“Nothing is deliberately denied to Ukraine,” he added at the start of a trip to India.
Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky, have clearly accused the United States of imposing restrictions that disrupted military operations and hampered its ability to intercept Russian missiles, making the attacks more deadly.
“It’s outrageous, it’s outrageous, it’s just wrong. It’s not accurate,” Rubio said Tuesday.
Officials in the eastern Kharkiv region shared images Monday of a dead child in a stroller — a 1-year-old girl who they say was killed alongside her mother during a Russian attack on a public park in the region.
“The world has enough strength to stop the war. This force must finally be used – against the murderers,” Zelenskyy said in a message denouncing the strike.
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