Russia’s War in Ukraine

Understanding the conflict four years on.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Ukraine’s deteriorating relationship with the United States, government measures to tackle protests across Europe, and the Houthis’ deadliest strike in Yemen since fighting resumed in July.

Zelensky Meets Witkoff in Oslo

As U.S. President Donald Trump looks increasingly interested in currying favor with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that a face-to-face with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff will be enough to repair ties before the U.S. president throws more support behind Moscow.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Ukraine’s deteriorating relationship with the United States, government measures to tackle protests across Europe, and the Houthis’ deadliest strike in Yemen since fighting resumed in July.

Zelensky Meets Witkoff in Oslo

As U.S. President Donald Trump looks increasingly interested in currying favor with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that a face-to-face with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff will be enough to repair ties before the U.S. president throws more support behind Moscow.

Zelensky flew to Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday to attend a slew of meetings focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine and European security. They included talks with Witkoff—and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who attended virtually—that touched on allegations of Washington withholding critical intelligence from Kyiv as well as Zelensky’s efforts to get more U.S.-made Patriot missiles.

Last week, Ukraine abruptly lost access to military-grade Starlink satellite services, disrupting several missions. Kyiv and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused the Trump administration of ordering the cuts; Trump denied doing so. That, coupled with reports that U.S. military officials had threatened to restrict intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, pushed Zelensky to scrap a Trump-declared truce on energy strikes between Russia and Ukraine.

That move appeared to frustrate the White House. On Monday, Trump said that “Russia, frankly, has been fine........

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