Volodymyr Zelensky said in Oslo on Tuesday that any talks on Ukraine’s future with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping would be acceptable only if Kyiv has a seat at the table. The remarks came as US envoy Steve Witkoff prepared to travel on to Russia after diplomacy in Norway.

Ukraine wants a place in any wider summit

Zelensky said discussions about Ukraine’s future would be acceptable only if Ukraine were present. He made the case as Trump has shown interest in a possible meeting with Putin and Xi, while a US newspaper report said Putin is seeking such a gathering on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19.

Trump said on Monday that he would do it, but no meeting has been agreed. Ukraine’s foreign minister warned that a three-way summit would only encourage Putin to keep fighting.

Oslo becomes the latest stop in peace efforts

Zelensky travelled to Oslo to speak with Witkoff about diplomatic ways out of the war and about US support for Ukraine. The Norwegian capital hosted talks that also included Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, with Norwegian media reporting that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and representatives from several European countries, the European Union and NATO joined remotely.

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The talks covered security guarantees for Ukraine, territorial questions, sanctions and European security after the war. Støre said the conversations were good and constructive, while Stubb said the day had moved things in the right direction.

Støre said Witkoff would fly to Saint Petersburg on Wednesday for talks with Russia’s leadership, where the European and American proposals would be presented.

Trump turns the pressure on Kyiv

After the Oslo meetings, Trump again said Russia was ready to end the war and urged Zelensky to make a deal. He said Ukraine should want the war settled and warned that things would go very badly if Zelensky did not want to end it.

Zelensky, meanwhile, said US intelligence sharing on Russian attacks had resumed, restoring early warnings for civilians. He said the intelligence work was functioning again after talks with US officials, including a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He also said Ukraine was not losing the war, although it was losing people, and remained determined to find a path to peace. Zelensky has previously said the United States had withheld important intelligence, delayed air-defence weapons and slowed Starlink and Starshield services, while Trump had suspended planned sanctions on Russia and instead agreed a diesel-fuel deal with Moscow.