This is how Zelensky is trying to bridge the vast gulf with Trump’s supporters

Kyiv. Yesterday, before the start of the Oslo talks – attended by the political leaders of Finland and Norway – the US President’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, first shook hands with Volodymyr Zelensky and then embraced him. It was the first friendly gesture by a representative of the Trump Administration towards the Ukrainian president in the last twelve days. “This morning began on a positive note,” Zelenskyy said at the closing briefing, which took place without Witkoff. Whilst the Ukrainian president was travelling by train to Poland, before continuing by plane to Norway, he had spoken for 45 minutes with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. 

But this meeting came after a week of diplomatic disaster. After US President Donald Trump announced a ‘diesel deal’ with Russia on 9 October, relations between Kyiv and Washington deteriorated sharply. For several days running, ballistic missiles struck the Ukrainian capital before air raid sirens even sounded, due to a lack of intelligence from the United States. Problems then arose regarding the use of Starlink terminals, particularly the Starshield system, which operates mainly on the front line. The maximum speed at which Starlink can be used in Ukraine does not exceed 161 kilometres per hour. This has prevented the launch of certain types of drones and ‘middle strike’ attacks.

Speaking from Washington, Trump said he did not know who had restricted Starlink and denied that the United States was no longer sharing intelligence with Kyiv. Meanwhile, he continued to speak positively about Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Russia is behaving correctly towards Ukraine,” he told journalists on 19 October. That very same day, a Russian drone struck a playground in the Kharkiv region, just as families with children were walking there. Six people died, including three children. The youngest, Angelina, was just one year old. Her mother, a primary school teacher, died in hospital. Trump, meanwhile, was discussing his support for the idea of a three-way summit with Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November. He did not even hide his annoyance with Zelensky and on several occasions said that Ukraine needs “a new leader”.

Despite the bitter disappointment and shock, the Ukrainian president and his office have sought ways to resume dialogue with the Americans, who now wish to engage more with Moscow than with Kyiv. On 18 October, a remote meeting took place between Zelensky, Witkoff and Jared Kushner, followed by one with Rubio. On the same day, Zelensky and Witkoff arrived in Oslo to meet in person. Kushner joined the conversation remotely. Whilst everyone was gathering in Oslo, in Kyiv, in broad daylight, drones continued to fly over the city. Russia struck the Institute of Cardiology and a power station.

Viktor Shlinchak, chairman of the board of directors of the Institute of World Politics, is convinced that the Oslo meeting is unlikely to change anything, other than perhaps easing tensions slightly between Ukraine and the United States. The most Kyiv can hope to achieve now from talks with the Americans, he explains, is the restoration of full Starlink operations, the resumption of intelligence-sharing by Washington, and the continuation of the PURL programme, through which allied countries purchase American weapons for Ukraine. “A Russia-US-China coalition seems increasingly likely,” Shlinchak tells Il Foglio. In his view, this should be a cause for concern not only for Kyiv, but also for Europe and many other countries around the world.

“Intelligence is working now,” Zelenskyy stated during the briefing in Oslo. According to him, the meeting in Norway covered, amongst other things, security guarantees for Ukraine. Today, Witkoff will arrive in St Petersburg to meet Putin. This will be his ninth trip to Russia. Zelensky says that one of the ideas he has asked to be conveyed to the Kremlin leader is the organisation of a three-way summit at leader level (Ukraine, the United States, Russia). But how Putin will react remains to be seen.

Whilst the briefing was taking place in Oslo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow would listen to the proposals put forward by Witkoff and Kushner, but would not make any political concessions.