US Restores Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine as Witkoff Heads to Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States had resumed sharing intelligence on Russian strikes with Kyiv, as US special envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin following a meeting with Zelensky in Norway.

Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine was again receiving advance warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks, apparently restoring a service that the White House had suspended the previous week. He welcomed the resumption, saying it would help save lives.

“We are thankful that intelligence works,” Zelensky told reporters in Oslo, describing the warnings as “very, very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians” ahead of ballistic missile strikes.

Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg on Wednesday morning, Russian state news agency TASS reported. His visit is part of US President Donald Trump's efforts to ease a bitter dispute with Zelensky over how to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Witkoff's discussions with Zelensky as positive and said the envoy would present their ideas to the Russian side. A US official told Reuters that Witkoff aimed to establish a route toward direct trilateral talks and broader multilateral negotiations. Axios reported that he would bring Putin an updated proposal for ending the war.

Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joined the discussions with Zelensky remotely and was also expected to participate virtually in the meeting with Putin, a US official told AFP. Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev was due to meet Witkoff at the airport before the talks.

The diplomatic efforts follow days of worsening relations between Washington and Kyiv. Trump has accused Zelensky of failing to pursue an end to the war and called for new Ukrainian leadership, while also criticizing Kyiv for refusing to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries.

On Tuesday, Trump again urged the Ukrainian president to agree to a deal with Moscow, saying Zelensky could have accepted terms offered during their contentious meeting in the Oval Office in February 2025.

“We want Zelensky to make a deal. He can make a deal. He could have made a deal two years ago when we had our little chat in the Oval Office,” Trump said.

Trump also said he had asked Putin to release Stephen Hubbard, an American captured by Russian forces in occupied Ukraine. It was unclear whether the request would be raised during Wednesday's meeting.

“I've been talking to him at length. I've asked him to release him. Let's see what happens,” Trump told reporters in Washington.

The dispute escalated after Trump announced the lifting of US sanctions on Russian diesel in an effort to bring down fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections. He subsequently announced an energy ceasefire that Ukraine observed for several days, while Russia did not.

Washington's actions have fueled concern in Kyiv and among European and British supporters of Ukraine that the United States is increasingly favoring Moscow. US proposals for peace have largely reflected Russia's maximalist demands.

Zelensky said he had held a positive telephone conversation with Rubio earlier on Tuesday. Asked whether Ukraine was losing the war following recent US actions, he rejected the suggestion while acknowledging the cost of continued Russian attacks.

“Of course we are not losing. But we are losing people because of Russian attacks and time. It's a pity,” Zelensky said.

He also told Rubio about restrictions imposed the previous week on Starshield, the military-grade version of Elon Musk's satellite internet service. The reported reduction in service speeds has hampered Ukraine's ability to conduct mid-range drone strikes against Russian battlefield positions.

Trump denied ordering the slowdown after Musk said the decision could only have come from the White House. Rubio said on Wednesday in Mumbai that Washington had not known in advance about the reduction in satellite communications speeds.

“The president has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr. Musk,” Rubio said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Musk had ordered the slowdown affecting the military-grade service.

Ukraine has also raised concerns over delays in the delivery of Patriot missile interceptors. Zelensky said he had offered to halt Ukraine's long-range attacks on Russian oil refineries, a key demand from Trump, if Washington supplied Kyiv with the interceptors.

The Pentagon has blocked the delivery of Patriot systems purchased by other countries for Ukraine, leaving the country more exposed to Russian air attacks. Zelensky told US senators on Monday that missiles already paid for by European countries were being held up pending approval from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Several European countries were prepared to transfer interceptors from their own stockpiles but were awaiting US authorization.

US officials have denied deliberately reducing support for Ukraine, although they have not provided a convincing explanation for the temporary interruption in intelligence sharing or the restrictions on satellite communications. Rubio said Patriot interceptors were in short supply and needed elsewhere in the world, including for the defense of the United States.

“There has not been some deliberate political directive to go out and harm Ukraine,” Rubio said during his visit to India.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, questioned on Tuesday whether US negotiators were acting as honest brokers in the peace process. Witkoff has met Putin repeatedly in Moscow but has visited Kyiv only once so far.

Kallas said Ukraine had resisted pressure to accept Russia's terms because of European support.

“Although American negotiators have been trying to push Ukraine into surrender for … one and a half years now,” Ukraine had not capitulated on Putin's terms, she said, because Europe had continued to support it.

Zelensky had also told a bipartisan group of US politicians that he believed Washington had made a political decision to reduce assistance to Kyiv.

“There can be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Zelensky said in Oslo, insisting that any negotiations over the country's future must include Ukrainian representatives.

He also opposed a trilateral summit proposed by Putin that would bring together the Russian president, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month to discuss a settlement for Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal reported that Zelensky would be excluded from the proposed meeting.

Trump said he was prepared to meet Putin and Xi in China next month to discuss denuclearization, adding that the talks could also address the war in Ukraine. The prospect of such a meeting has raised concerns in Kyiv that decisions about the country's future could be made without its participation.

At least nine people were killed in Ukraine on Tuesday. Among the victims were passengers traveling on the Kyiv-Odesa highway, where a Russian drone struck two vehicles, killing three people and injuring four. One of those killed was the driver of a shuttle bus traveling from the capital to a military cemetery.