Zelenskiy Seeks to Mend Rift After Meeting U.S. Envoys as Trump Keeps Up Pressure to End War

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought to ease tensions with the U.S. after talks with an American delegation, but President Donald Trump kept up pressure on Ukraine to move toward ending the war.

Bloomberg reported on Oct. 20 that Zelenskiy, speaking at a press conference in Oslo, said he discussed intelligence sharing and the restoration of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service after meeting Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy for the Middle East.

Zelenskiy said the U.S. has resumed providing early-warning intelligence on Russian attacks. He added that he hopes Starlink connectivity will be restored within 48 hours. He had previously criticized the U.S. for restricting the Starlink service used by Ukrainian forces in defensive operations.

The two sides also discussed a partial ceasefire to halt attacks on energy facilities in Ukraine and Russia. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, joined the meeting by video, and the leaders of Norway and Finland also took part. Zelenskiy said Ukraine would be ready to stop attacking Russia's key energy facilities if Russia halted strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, but President Vladimir Putin had rejected that proposal.

Trump, however, continued criticizing Zelenskiy after the meeting. He repeated his view that Russia wants a negotiated settlement and questioned Ukraine's willingness to end the war. The U.S. has provided massive support to Ukraine, he said, and now is the time to end the war through negotiations.

Tensions between Washington and Kyiv have escalated after the Trump administration allowed Russian diesel fuel to be sold on international markets in a bid to lower energy prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. The dispute deepened after Trump raised the possibility of Zelenskiy's departure from office, while Zelenskiy pushed back by saying the U.S. was pressuring Ukraine to surrender. During that period, Russia attacked energy facilities in Kyiv, disrupting electricity and water supplies in some areas.

Witkoff is due to visit St. Petersburg, Russia, on Oct. 21 to continue talks with Russian leaders on ending the war. Zelenskiy said he is pushing for a three-way summit among the leaders of the U.S., Ukraine and Russia to discuss issues requiring decisions at the heads-of-state level, including territorial questions.

The gap between the two sides over settlement terms remains wide. Russia is demanding that Ukraine withdraw troops from parts of the Donetsk region still under Kyiv's control, while Ukraine says fighting should stop along the current front line. The U.S. has proposed creating a neutral zone between the Russian and Ukrainian militaries.