Zelenskyy says missile warnings restored as Oslo peace talks move to Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met US envoy Steve Witkoff, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Oslo on 20 October. Jared Kushner joined the discussion online. Støre called the talks constructive, but said the diplomatic effort remained “a work in progress”. The leaders discussed Ukraine’s security, territory and sanctions, with Witkoff due to take proposals to Russian leaders in St Petersburg on 21 October. [1] [2]

After the meeting, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was once again receiving early warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks. He had spoken to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier that day about the warnings, missile interceptors and Starlink/Starshield satellite connections. Zelenskyy’s statement concerned the warning function: it did not mean that questions over interceptor supplies or satellite access had been settled. He expressed hope for progress on those issues, while, according to the Associated Press, saying that speed restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starshield remained in place. [2] [3] [6] [7]

The warnings had become a point of contention after Zelenskyy said Ukraine had not received adequate advance notice of recent Russian attacks. Rubio denied that President Donald Trump had ordered any change to intelligence-sharing. In State Department remarks published by Forth, he said the US understanding was that reported problems on 13 and 18 October were technical, while acknowledging that the matter was still being examined. A day earlier, Rubio had said he could not explain a then-recent missed warning. His denial of a policy order does not resolve why each warning failed to reach Ukraine. [4] [5] [7]