Zelenskyy and Witkoff are set to meet in Oslo.
Tensions persist over US intelligence sharing and Starlink access.
Trump eases Russia sanctions while pursuing Ukraine peace talks.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and US special envoy Steve Witkoff are set to meet in Oslo, amid the souring relations between the Ukrainian leader and US President Donald Trump.
The prime ministers of Norway and Finland will attend the meeting in Oslo, while US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Kushner is expected to join remotely due to illness.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Zelenskyy had asked US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to join Tuesday’s talks, according to Al Jazeera.
Before the talks, Zelenskyy said in a post on X that he had a “substantive conversation” with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They discussed missile interceptors, intelligence sharing and Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed claims that Washington was putting Ukrainian lives at risk by withholding intelligence from Kyiv, calling the accusations "scandalous" and "outrageous".
His remarks came after, last week, Zelenskyy accused the US of withholding intelligence from Ukraine and slowing down its Starlink internet service. Ukraine’s military uses SpaceX’s military-grade Starshield network for various operations, including drone attacks.
Trump Explained Lifting Sanctions
US President Donald Trump on Friday said he lifted sanctions and tariffs linked to Russian exports to keep Moscow involved in peace talks with Ukraine.
Explaining his decision in a post on Truth Social, Trump said he did not want to take any action that could push Russia away from negotiations.
"My decision on Russia is a very simple one," he said. "I am in the process of negotiating peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don't want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table."
Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Zelenskyy in recent weeks, while taking steps to ease pressure on Russia, including lifting sanctions on Russian diesel exports. He is also trying to lower energy prices before the mid-term elections, which have risen sharply amid the US-Israel war on Iran.
