President Volodymyr Zelensky's list of grievances against the government of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, continues and, with it, tension between both leaders also increases. In the midst of these strained relations, Zelensky met this Tuesday in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, with Trump's envoys to negotiate peace, including Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, virtually. In a press conference after the meeting, together with the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, and the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store, the Ukrainian president defended the situation in his country, stating that Ukraine "is not losing the war", although it is losing "people and time."
The Finnish president announced that during the meeting they had found “some elements of peace that will be taken to St. Petersburg” the next day. It is unknown if Kushner will accompany Witkoff in person at the meeting they will hold with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While the meeting in Oslo was taking place, air defense alarms did not stop ringing in kyiv. Local authorities have announced that Russian drones damaged a hospital and a medical center in two populated districts of the city and that five people were injured.
Hours earlier, the Ukrainian president denounced that the Pentagon would be delaying the delivery of interceptor missiles to Ukraine paid in advance through the program called Ukraine Priority Requirements List (PURL), through which kyiv's allies buy weapons from Washington to send to this country.
kyiv's claim for the interceptors was validated on Tuesday morning by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with whom Zelensky held a telephone meeting. In statements to the press, Rubio assured that possibly one of the lots assigned to Ukraine could not have been delivered, but that there was no political intention behind it. “Nothing is being deliberately denied to Ukraine,” Rubio said.
The Patriot interceptors are essential for Ukraine's air defense against the ballistic missile attacks with which Moscow hits large cities. kyiv denounces that Russia seeks to destroy the country's infrastructure ahead of this winter.
The meeting in the Norwegian capital aims to seek new diplomatic paths to end the large-scale invasion launched by Moscow on February 24, 2022.
In recent days, Zelensky has warned of failures in cooperation with allied countries, which was also a topic discussed with Rubio. This includes disruption to intelligence sharing, especially early warnings of Russian ballistic attacks that are critical to protecting the population. Days later, the Ukrainian president confirmed that the information had been activated again, but this interruption set off alarms in Ukraine, where many fear that vital intelligence is being deprived with the aim of pressuring them to negotiate. They fear that they are being forced to capitulate.
And, although Zelensky did not mention Washington as the only person responsible, all darts point in that direction. Relations between both leaders are going through their worst moment since February 2025, when Zelensky visited Trump in the White House a few weeks after he assumed his second term in the White House. "Zelensky is not helping much. I think he doesn't want to stop it [the conflict]," Trump declared this Monday. He insisted on the idea that it is time for someone else to “negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
While Trump accuses Zelensky of obstructing the path to peace, he denies that the United States has stopped sharing intelligence information with Ukraine. “We have given them a lot and they have given us nothing,” he insisted.
Trump's attack seems to have restored Zelensky's support among the population, weakened in recent months by internal disputes and corruption scandals in his inner circle. According to a survey by the kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), carried out between October 10 and 17, Zelensky's acceptance rose by 14% in recent days. 57% of the population is in favor of it and 39% is against it. The previous survey, conducted between October 8 and 9, reflected an opposite trend. By then, negative opinion about Zelensky reached 52% compared to 43% positive opinion.
Trump's attacks on Zelensky have increased since Ukraine rejected Washington's initial request to stop attacks on Russian energy targets, including oil refineries. The American president argues that these attacks are responsible for the high price of gasoline in the world. In kyiv, for their part, they criticize the American president for not recognizing his responsibility in the rise in crude oil prices due to the war against Iran, which the United States and Israel began on February 28 of this year and which has had among its consequences the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Tehran.
Zelensky warned at the time that he would commit to stopping the attacks if Moscow did the same with those aimed at Ukrainian energy facilities, something Russia rejected. Two days later he gave the order again to attack the Russian refineries.
