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“Important and constructive” talks, the peace process is “back on track”, now we need to “look forward”: Volodymyr Zelensky and his European partners are trying to turn the page on the open conflict with the United States, at the end of a meeting in Oslo with the American envoy Steve Witkoff which promised to be anything but friendly. The first result is that now the sharing of US intelligence necessary to defend itself from deadly Russian attacks “works” again, Zelensky announced in a press conference. Giving substance to talks which, on the one hand, attempted to bring unity back to the West, on the other hand produced “proposals” which in the next few hours will be taken by Witkoff to St. Petersburg for a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Talk that will attempt to “possibly pave the way for a meeting between the leaders”. Although the statements at the end of the meeting in Oslo bring relief after days of chaos between the Western partners, the lack of details on the contents of the proposals does not help dispel doubts about the Western plan to end the war: according to the New York Times, Donald Trump is trying to persuade Ukraine to accept a peace agreement that includes territorial concessions in Donbass. The tycoon would be determined to impose the agreement on Zelensky by telling him that resisting to maintain the occupied portions of the country’s eastern provinces is not worth it, and that there would also be money to be made for Ukraine if he only abandoned his objections.
Indiscretions that justify Zelensky’s request to convene the meeting in Oslo, which was also attended by Jared Kushner – although remotely due to the flu – together with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and – according to Axios – also representatives of the E4 countries (United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland) and EU and NATO officials. «We are working to find a solution. We have clear ideas on how to achieve peace, a commitment that sees us united with our European partners. And we want the Americans to present these proposals to Russia”, said Zelensky, returning to propose a trilateral summit between leaders and instead rejecting a Trump-Putin-Xi meeting without involving Kiev: “If we talk about Ukraine and our future, it can only be acceptable if we are present at the table”, he underlined. According to Politico, Witkoff will go to Putin with the proposal of a three-way summit with Zelensky and Trump, in an attempt to reach a ceasefire. An idea so far rejected by the Kremlin. In any case, Oslo will try to restart trust between the US and Europe, after Donald Trump’s agreement for Russian oil and the tycoon’s subsequent frontal attack on Zelensky undermined trust in Washington. The return of intelligence sharing with Ukraine is certainly a step towards overcoming the crisis.
«The limitations on intelligence sharing and the reduction of Starlink speed are no longer mere threats but a reality. It’s unfair towards us”, Zelensky had denounced in an interview with Corriere della Sera this morning, before accusing Washington of deliberately delaying the delivery of interceptor missiles even though they were already paid for by the Europeans. “There is nothing that is being deliberately denied to Ukraine,” was the response in the afternoon from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke directly with Zelensky in a 45-minute phone call to clarify that Donald Trump had not given any orders to harm Kiev. But in the meantime, the dramatic consequences of the short circuit between the two allies were felt in the daily death toll in Ukraine: Russian drones targeted the Kiev-Odessa highway, killing three people and injuring four others. And in Kramatorsk, Donetsk, Ukrainian authorities reported that three civilians died in a shelling of the city.