The China Mail - Zelensky, US envoys hold Oslo talks as Ukraine claims US missile holdup

"Ukraine is working for peace. I thank our partners for their support!" Zelensky said in a social media post after his arrival in the Norwegian capital.

Zelensky handed US envoy Steve Witkoff an award in the Norwegian government's official residence, before posing with Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, according to footage accompanying the Ukrainian leader's post.

Witkoff's fellow US envoy Jared Kushner -- US President Donald Trump's son-in-law -- was also taking part in the negotiations but was doing so remotely because of illness, according to the NTB agency.

Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured since Trump partially lifted sanctions to strike a diesel-supply deal with Russia's Vladimir Putin and slammed Zelensky as a warmonger for Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Zelensky has accused the United States of deliberately withholding vital intelligence and delaying military aid, saying on Monday that Ukraine received no early warning of powerful Russian missile strikes that targeted energy facilities in the capital region.

US-led diplomatic efforts to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II have stalled in recent months, as Washington has shifted focus towards the war with Iran.

The Norway talks were set to continue into the evening, Store told reporters, with he and Zelensky set to give a press conference around 7:15 pm (1715 GMT)

"The aim is to put diplomatic efforts on a more constructive path," he said.

- 'Needed to protect lives' -

Ahead of the meeting, Zelensky said on Tuesday he held "substantive" and "constructive" talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which he insisted that the US military satellite system Ukraine uses, Starshield, "needs to be restored" and that ballistic missile interceptors "are needed to protect lives".

Zelensky told US senators on Monday that "the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles" already paid for by European countries, and that the shipment was waiting for US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's signature.

He said several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were still awaiting US approval.

The United States has denied making any changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington was not deliberately withholding supplies.

"There's nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine," Rubio said while on a trip to India.

"It's simply, it's a balance between our obligations to other partners and frankly our own... requirements for our own facilities as well."

Trump has also denied ordering a reduction in speeds on the US government-owned and -controlled Starshield network after Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX developed it, said the order could only have come from the White House.

- Strained relations -

The US leader has accused his counterpart of not trying to resolve the conflict with Russia.

"Zelensky doesn't know what he's talking about," Trump said on Monday.

"To be honest, I think it's time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine."

Trump said he was ready to meet Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China next month to discuss denuclearisation, adding that talks could also cover the Ukraine war -- fuelling fears in Kyiv that it was being sidelined.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed earlier that "the topic of such a hypothetical has indeed been mentioned" when asked about a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that Trump, Putin and Xi could meet.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that such a meeting would "only encourage Putin to continue this war".

News outlet Axios reported that Witkoff would travel from Oslo to Russia to meet Putin.

K.Lam--ThChM