Steve Witkoff heads to Oslo for Ukraine talks; Moscow meeting with Putin planned next

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is travelling to Oslo this week for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on ending the war in Ukraine, and is then expected to head to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Axios, citing a US official, said the Oslo talks are set for Tuesday and are aimed at developing a peace proposal to present to Putin.

What is happening

According to the Reuters report, published on October 19 and written by Erin Banco, Jonathan Landay and Tom Balmforth, the Oslo meetings are the next round of negotiations on ending the Ukraine war. Two of the three people familiar with the matter said they expected Zelensky to attend. Separately, President Zelensky himself said on Monday that Ukrainian and US negotiators could meet in Norway in the coming days — the only part of the story confirmed on the record by either government.

Axios added on Tuesday that the talks bring together Ukraine, European allies and the United States with one purpose: to agree on a peace proposal that Witkoff would then carry to Putin.

Who is expected at the Oslo table

The Reuters report lays out a full guest list: President Zelensky, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, representatives of the so-called E4 — Britain, France, Germany and Poland — the European Union, and NATO.

One notable absence is expected: Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, who was meant to take part in the talks, is sick and will attend virtually, one person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Confirmed vs only reported

Because almost everything here rests on anonymous sources, it helps to separate what is confirmed from what is merely reported:

Status	Claim
Confirmed (on record)	Zelensky said on Monday that US and Ukrainian negotiators could meet in Norway in the coming days.
Confirmed (on record)	Axios, citing a US official, said Witkoff's Oslo talks with Zelensky and European leaders are set for Tuesday.
Reported by Reuters' sources	The full Oslo guest list — Støre, the E4, the EU and NATO.
Reported by Reuters' sources	Witkoff will also travel to Russia to meet Putin; Kushner will attend virtually because he is sick.
Tentative	The sources said the whole schedule could still change.

Disagreement: when is the Moscow meeting?

There is a timing mismatch between the two outlets. The people who spoke to Reuters said the Moscow trip is set for this week, after the Oslo talks. Axios, according to a summary of its reporting, said the Moscow meeting may take place later. Neither newsroom says it will be an in-person meeting this week for certain — and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. So treat the Moscow date as provisional.

What Moscow will cover

If the Moscow leg happens, two of the people familiar told Reuters it will cover a range of topics related to Ukraine — and one more item: the possible release of Stephen Hubbard, an American citizen jailed in Russia in 2022. Hubbard's release is the only concrete agenda item reported by name so far; there is no public draft of the peace proposal itself.

The tension in the background

The talks come at a frosty moment between Washington and Kyiv. Reuters reports that Ukraine alleges the US administration ordered a reduction in the speed of Starshield, SpaceX's military-grade satellite system used by Ukrainian forces, limited intelligence sharing, and delayed the delivery of Patriot air-defence missiles that other countries had already paid for.

Zelensky addressed it directly in a video posted on Telegram on Monday: "All of this suggests that some political decision has been made to slow down support for us." Note the sourcing here — these are Ukrainian allegations, reported by Reuters, not confirmed by Washington.

What to watch

• Whether the Oslo talks actually happen on Tuesday, as the US official told Axios, and whether a written proposal comes out of them.
• Whether the Moscow trip survives the "tentative" warning the sources attached to it.
• Any response from the White House or the Kremlin, both of which are currently silent on the record.
• How the Starshield and intelligence-sharing allegations develop — they could shape what Ukraine is willing to accept at the table.

Main takeaways

• Witkoff is making a two-stop push: Oslo with Zelensky and European leaders, then Moscow with Putin.
• The aim is a peace proposal drafted in Oslo and presented in Moscow.
• The only on-record confirmations are Zelensky's own Monday statement and a US official speaking to Axios.
• Everything else — the guest list, the Moscow trip, the Hubbard agenda — comes from people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.
• The schedule is tentative and could change.