US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. (Image: US Department of State / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain)
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is set to travel to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin, after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo — as President Donald Trump intensifies his public pressure on Kyiv to settle the war.
Russia's TASS state news agency reported, citing a source, that Witkoff would visit Russia on Wednesday after wrapping up the Oslo meeting, which also included Finnish President Alexander Stubb. The discussions in the Norwegian capital focused on a potential peace framework, security guarantees for Ukraine, post-war economic recovery, and Europe's future security arrangements. Officials described the talks as constructive, with the resulting proposals expected to be conveyed to Moscow.
In Washington, Trump placed the responsibility for ending the war squarely on Kyiv. "Ukraine has to want to settle this war. Zelenskyy has to want to settle this war," he told reporters in the Oval Office. "And if he doesn't, I think it's going to be a very bad thing."
The president expressed open frustration with the scale of American support for Ukraine. "We have given tremendous amounts to Ukraine. We've got nothing back other than high diesel," he said. "We have given probably more money to Ukraine than almost anybody over the years, hundreds of billions of dollars. We got nothing back. And the American taxpayers are tired of it."
Trump contrasted Kyiv's position with Moscow's, asserting that Russia is interested in reaching a deal while steadily expanding its territorial gains. "Russia is a big machine. They just keep grinding forward, and that's what they've done. They've taken a very large piece of land," he said.
The diplomatic push comes amid persistent tension between Washington and Kyiv over military assistance, intelligence sharing, and the American approach to Moscow — and just days after Trump suggested Zelenskyy should find someone else to negotiate with. What Witkoff carries to the Kremlin, and whether Putin treats the Oslo framework as a basis for talks, will set the tone for the next phase of the war's diplomacy.