US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia on 21 October, where he will meet Vladimir Putin, the BBC reports. He is expected to deliver the proposals developed at yesterday’s summit in Oslo, attended by the Ukrainian and Finnish presidents and Norway’s prime minister.
The US side described yesterday’s discussions as constructive. Other parties also spoke positively about them.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin would hear out the proposals Witkoff has brought. The Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that on 21 October Putin will meet not only the American visitor but also China’s State Council Premier Li Qiang. The information was reported by Russia’s Interfax.
As is known, earlier this month Vladimir Putin proposed to Donald Trump holding a trilateral summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. According to The Wall Street Journal, the key aim of such a meeting is to discuss ending the war against Ukraine on terms favourable to Russia.
The Oslo Summit and Its Background
In October, Washington once again escalated tensions with Kyiv. First, Donald Trump announced an unexpected deal to supply Russian diesel, thereby weakening anti-Russian sanctions. He again criticised Ukraine, accusing it of driving up global energy prices. However, energy-sector analysts have repeatedly pointed out that the rise in the price of diesel and other petroleum products began not because of Ukrainian strikes on refineries in Russia, but because Iran destroyed oil refineries in Persian Gulf countries earlier this year.
The US also, during several attacks, did not pass on to Ukraine information about the Russians launching ballistic missiles. And Starlink satellite communications for the military began operating with speed restrictions, making it impossible to shoot down jet-powered UAVs with interceptors and to carry out some mid-strike attacks. Ukraine stressed that it uses Starlink only for strikes on occupied territory, not for attacks on Russia. Washington denies deliberate restrictions, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine conducted an experiment and took Starlink to an EU country. There it worked at speeds of 180 kilometres per hour and more, while in Ukraine it was only up to 161 kilometres per hour.
On 20 October in Oslo, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Alexander Stubb, Jonas Gahr Støre and Steve Witkoff met. They discussed proposals for establishing peace, security guarantees for Ukraine and post-war reconstruction. According to Zelenskyy, the United States agrees that security guarantees must be strong. There are various options, including an analogue of NATO’s Article 5.
Witkoff is to pass the proposals to Putin.