Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said US intelligence sharing on deadly Russian missile attacks "works now" after talks with President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. The meeting in Oslo came after accusations by Kyiv that Washington was withholding key intelligence - a claim rejected as "scandalous" by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who also took part in the talks, said "genuine progress" was made on proposals to achieve peace but gave no details and warned that patience would be needed.
Zelensky and his European allies said it was now up to Russia to respond to the proposals agreed in Oslo when Witkoff arrives in St Petersburg on Wednesday. Witkoff was not present at the joint press conference after Tuesday's talks in the Norwegian capital. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, another key envoy, took part in the meeting via video link.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is yet to publicly comment on the latest developments, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said the Kremlin would listen to what Wiktoff would offer, while ruling out "any political concessions". Relations between Ukraine and the US have soured in recent weeks to the extent that Trump has said it is time for Ukraine to get a new president, and most recently "for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine". Speaking after Zelensky's news conference in Oslo, Trump again told reporters at the White House he wanted Kyiv to "make a deal".
He said Russia would like to "get it done" and it was "time for Ukraine to end this war". Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. Russian drone attacks continued on Tuesday.
Ukrainian officials said at least 10 people were killed - four in Kyiv and the capital region, another four in the eastern Donetsk region, and two in the central city of Dnipro. Trump and Zelensky appear at loggerheads despite Oslo optimism Ukrainians dying because US restricting intelligence sharing, Zelensky adviser tells BBC Addressing the issue of US intelligence sharing after Tuesday's talks, Zelensky said he was "thankful that intelligence works now". "Speaking about early warning, which is very important for our people, our children, adults, civilians because we can hear when ballistic[s] is coming - so we are thankful to American side, now it works, it's great," the Ukrainian president said.
He said he also hoped for a good result on SpaceX's Starlink satellite access as well, after Ukraine's military had reported in recent days speed restrictions on the US platform used by Kyiv to carry out drone strikes against Russia. And Zelensky also restated that Ukraine was "ready for negotiations" to end the war. "Of course, we are not losing this war, but we are losing people because Russia attacks," he said.
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