Trump's envoy meets with Putin after resuming collaboration with Ukraine

BarcelonaUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seeks to mend bridges with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, following the crisis triggered by the New York tycoon's deal with the Kremlin for the purchase of diesel. "We are grateful that [intelligence collaboration] is working now," the Ukrainian president said after the meeting in Oslo with several European leaders and the White House envoy, Steve Witkoff, to address peace. Ukraine has been complaining for a week that the United States was not sharing intelligence information about Russian attacks, warnings that allow Kyiv to issue alerts for incoming Russian missiles, giving the population a few minutes to seek shelter. US officials had attributed these interruptions, which have already occurred several times in the past, to "adverse weather conditions," while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had alleged they were due to a computer glitch. During the meeting, the Ukrainian leader proposed "ideas" for peace, which Witkoff will convey this Wednesday to the Russian government in his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg.

"[Witkoff] will go to Russia and see what Putin has to say about it," stated Zelensky, who remarked that Ukraine is "prepared for negotiations" after "important" talks with the White House envoy and the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, and the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, who also participated in the meeting. In the press conference following the meeting with Støre and Stubb – and without Witkoff – Zelensky insisted that "Ukraine wants peace more than anyone" and suggested that any peace agreement would require a trilateral meeting with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian president also confirmed that he spoke this Wednesday with the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

Beyond proposals to try to achieve peace in the war in Ukraine, the meeting also served for leaders to address security guarantees for Kyiv, and various proposals inspired by NATO's Article 5 – the collective defense clause among allies – were discussed, according to Zelensky. After the meeting, Støre and Stubb noted "significant progress" in the talks – without providing details – and the Finn went as far as to say that "some elements for peace" were found. "We have a foundation to work on," added the Norwegian.

Russia has already anticipated Witkoff's arrival and, before knowing what proposals the White House envoy will put forward, has anticipated that the Kremlin will not make any political concessions. "We will see what [the United States] offers. If they offer something that benefits us in the economic or financial sphere, why not? But this must be done without political concessions and without expecting political favors," said Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.

Missile retention

Zelensky's words, with a less forceful tone against Trump compared to the statements of recent days, come at a time when Ukraine is denouncing that the United States is withholding the shipment of a large batch of Patriot interceptor missiles. "There are political agreements that have not been implemented at an operational level," Zelensky said this Tuesday. A senior Ukrainian official and two military officials from the country, who spoke on condition of anonymity with the portal Kyiv Independent, assert that the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, has the Patriot missile sales contracts, but is not signing them. These weapons are the only defense Ukraine has to intercept the ballistic missiles that Russia launches against its territory and which have critical infrastructure, such as energy facilities, as their main target. The same sources assure that Kyiv has already paid for this weaponry, and that the delay comes when Moscow's attacks are daily.

At the same time, Kyiv has also suffered power drops or interruptions in the operation of the Starshield and Starlink satellite internet systems used by its armed forces, which are essential for drone operations. The Ukrainians claim that these restrictions began after Trump announced the purchase of 300,000 tons of Russian diesel to mitigate price hikes in the United States before the November 3 midterm elections, and demanded that Ukraine stop attacks against Russian refineries.

Ukraine obtains Patriot interceptor missiles through various channels. One of the main mechanisms is NATO's Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), through which Kyiv's allies finance the purchase of weapons from the United States. The Atlantic Alliance assures that deliveries through this mechanism continue, but according to Zelensky, the US is only delivering twelve missiles each month to Ukraine, and Kyiv has to contact European governments directly so they sell them those they have in stock. Ukraine does not disclose the reserves it has, for security reasons.