The key facts

  • Kyiv considers an energy truce following the talks in Oslo and St. Petersburg unlikely — 'RBC-Ukraine' citing a source
  • Success is called the unfreezing of the negotiation track at the delegations' level and 'de-escalation methods'
  • On October 20, Witkoff, Zelensky, Støre and Stubb met in Oslo; on October 21, Witkoff held talks with Putin

Kyiv Does Not Expect an Energy Truce

Kyiv considers the possibility of concluding an energy truce following the talks in Oslo and St. Petersburg unlikely. This is reported by 'RBC-Ukraine' citing sources. According to the publication's interlocutor, in Russia they react poorly to the word 'truce' and are not going to give Ukraine a pause.

Expectations from the Witkoff-Putin Meeting

'We will consider the successful outcome of the Witkoff-Putin talks to be the unfreezing of the negotiation track at the delegations' level. Further, ideally, it would be to obtain political agreement on some de-escalation methods,' the source said. He added that now it is necessary to take 'basic measures to restore trust, because there is total distrust between everyone.' 'Therefore, the main idea is let's all calm down, try to move into a managed process of achieving peace through negotiations,' the interlocutor of 'RBC-Ukraine' explained.

Course of the Talks

On October 20, talks were held in Oslo with the participation of US special envoy Witkoff, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre and President of Finland Alexander Stubb. Following the meeting, Stubb emphasized that it allowed achieving real progress. On October 21, Witkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, German Chancellor Merz stated that Ukraine's capitulation was unacceptable.