Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Oct. 20 that Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected reciprocal limits on energy strikes, while U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff planned to bring further peace proposals to Russia.
Speaking in Oslo, Zelenskyy reiterated an offer he had made publicly on Oct. 11: Ukraine would avoid striking sensitive Russian energy facilities if Russia stopped attacking Ukraine’s. He said Kyiv had accepted a U.S. proposal for an energy ceasefire, but Russia continued its attacks and Putin rejected Ukraine’s reciprocal offer. Zelenskyy also raised the possibility of a meeting with Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner joined the Oslo discussions remotely, Norway’s prime minister’s office said. The meeting followed Norway’s announcement that Witkoff would travel to Oslo and Kushner would participate remotely.
Washington has separately taken two sanctions actions concerning Russia. On Oct. 9, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) authorized specified transactions involving Russian-origin diesel through April 7, 2027. Trump issued an Oct. 16 order waiving provisions of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. The order leaves sanctions imposed under specified earlier executive orders in place.
Trump said on Oct. 9 that Russia had agreed to supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately and 500,000 tons during November, with larger quantities to follow. Those amounts were announced supply plans.
The two presidents’ history includes a July 2019 phone call in which Trump sought a “favor” concerning a theory about the 2016 U.S. election and separately brought up the son of former President Joe Biden, according to a White House memorandum. The document says it is not a verbatim transcript. The House impeached Trump that December on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate acquitted him in February 2020.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Trump and Zelenskyy clashed at a White House meeting in February 2025. Their governments agreed the following month to resume U.S. security assistance and intelligence sharing after a pause.
The presidents met at the Vatican in April 2025, and their governments signed an agreement days later to establish a reconstruction investment fund. Trump met Putin in Alaska that August before hosting Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington.
Zelenskyy said Witkoff planned to travel to Russia on Oct. 21 to present further proposals.
