Witkoff plans Putin meeting after Oslo Ukraine talks

US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Oct. 21, after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo advanced parts of a proposed Ukraine peace framework, officials said.

The talks involved Ukraine, the United States, Norway, Finland, European representatives and NATO participants. Officials said Ukraine brought new proposals and that participants made progress toward a coordinated approach for engaging Russia.

Oslo framework reaches Moscow

Officials said the discussions covered security guarantees for Ukraine, a postwar economic plan and a broader European security architecture. Witkoff’s aim is to open a path toward direct trilateral and wider multilateral negotiations, officials said.

President Trump on Tuesday said Ukraine needed to seek a settlement with Russia. Zelenskyy said the Oslo talks included “Article 5-like” guarantees, referring to NATO’s collective-defense clause, and said he had been assured the package would be strong.

NATO said Tuesday it was sending more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems, drones, intelligence personnel and explosive exploitation teams to the Black Sea after attacks on ships near Romania and Bulgaria. Russia’s defense ministry said its forces struck three cargo vessels in Ukraine’s port of Reni and two other vessels headed for Odesa, saying they were used for military purposes.

Ukrainian officials said Russian missile and drone attacks on civilian areas killed at least nine people Tuesday. The next test is Witkoff’s planned meeting with Putin on Wednesday, Oct. 21, and whether Moscow engages on the framework discussed in Oslo.