Foreign & Public Diplomacy

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. and European officials Tuesday in Oslo on Oct. 20 to discuss formulas for ending the brutal war in Ukraine, observers must have been asking the same question I have been puzzling over: Is this U.S.-led peace effort for real?

My answer is yes and no, based on reports from people close to the negotiations. On the positive side, U.S. and European envoys have worked with top Ukrainian officials to frame an agenda for talks with Russia that would explore mutual security guarantees for Kyiv and Moscow, plans for postwar economic integration and reconstruction, and territorial compromises.

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. and European officials Tuesday in Oslo on Oct. 20 to discuss formulas for ending the brutal war in Ukraine, observers must have been asking the same question I have been puzzling over: Is this U.S.-led peace effort for real?

My answer is yes and no, based on reports from people close to the negotiations. On the positive side, U.S. and European envoys have worked with top Ukrainian officials to frame an agenda for talks with Russia that would explore mutual security guarantees for Kyiv and Moscow, plans for postwar economic integration and reconstruction, and territorial compromises.

The reason to doubt this process is that it’s one-sided. The negotiation track has support from Ukraine but none so far from the aggressor, Russia. The Kremlin hasn’t even agreed to talk about talks. A real peace pact would be a symphony. But we have the sound of one hand clapping.

Soon we’ll all have a better sense of whether this is real. U.S. emissary Steve Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg on Wednesday to brief Russian President Vladimir Putin on the plan. His fellow envoy Jared Kushner, at home in Miami, sick with the flu, was to join by teleconference.

The St. Petersburg meeting was sweetened by Russia’s release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher whom Russia had been holding on charges that he was a mercenary for Ukraine. Trump had asked Putin to free Hubbard. The hostage release is good news for........

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