Ukraine and the US meet in Oslo: "Europe is trying to save the situation"

- It seems that recent developments have accelerated the negotiation process and these talks seem to have been organized in a somewhat panicky manner, says Jan Hallenberg, associate senior researcher at the Institute for Foreign Policy.

According to Jan Hallenberg, the USA's position in the negotiations has changed recently, which he mainly attributes to Donald Trump's conversation with Vladimir Putin at the beginning of October and a desire to get a political feather in his cap before the US mid-term elections in November.

Since then, Trump has canceled a planned sanctions package against Russia, agreed to buy Russian diesel and openly criticized Volodymyr Zelenskyi. At the same time, Ukraine states that the United States has suspended the system that gave Ukrainians early warnings of Russian missiles and restricted Starlink, the satellite network that Ukrainian drones rely on.

- This puts a lot of pressure on Zelenskyj, and as I understand it, the Europeans are now trying to save the situation, says Jan Hallenberg.

Press conference after the meeting

According to a Norwegian government statement, Tuesday's conversation takes place in Oslo between Zelenskyj, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with the latter participating remotely.

"The goal is to get the diplomatic talks on a more constructive path," says Jonas Gahr Støre in the statement before.

According to the plan, a press conference will be held after the meeting later on Tuesday.

"Can succeed in influencing Trump"

When Trump and Putin met in Alaska in August last year, Trump opened up, among other things, that Russia would receive Ukrainian territories in a peace settlement, and according to Jan Hallenberg, the United States appears to be set on the same type of solution.

- The difference now is that they have increased the pressure on Ukraine, and decreased the pressure on Russia. Despite all the experts saying it should be the other way around.

After the meeting in Alaska, several European representatives traveled to Washington to try to change Trump's attitude, and succeeded to some extent, says Jan Hallenberg.

- I look forward to seeing if the Oslo talks can lead to any positional shifts for Trump. He can turn quite quickly and it cannot be ruled out that the Europeans can get him at least a bit in the direction of Ukraine.