Russia just got handed a peace document with NATO-style guarantees
2 hours ago · 21 October 2026Share
President Donald Trump welcomes Steve Witkoff to speak at the Opioid Summit in the East Room of the White House. File photo. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead) · Public domain
He's going to brief Vladimir Putin, Russia's President, on peace talks that happened in Oslo a day ago.
And here's the headline from Oslo: both sides are calling it a success.
So who was in the room? Witkoff went in person. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and fellow envoy, joined by video because he was ill. On the other side sat Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's President, Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway's Prime Minister, and Alexander Stubb, Finland's President.
Zelenskyy called the talks constructive. Jonas Gahr Støre called the meeting good and constructive. Alexander Stubb said the peace process is back on track.
Three leaders, three different countries, almost the same word. A day before the American envoy sits down with Putin.
So what did they actually talk about? Security guarantees for Ukraine. Ceasefire formats. A post-war reconstruction plan. Air defence. Protecting energy infrastructure. Territorial questions. Sanctions.
That's basically everything this war still needs to settle.
And there's a real document behind it. Witkoff is carrying security-guarantee options to Russia modelled on NATO's Article 5 — the rule that says an attack on one member is an attack on all of them. One option on the table is a lighter version of that same guarantee.
Zelenskyy says he expects Russia to respond within a day.
He also proposed something much bigger. A three-way summit, him, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, all in one room.
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Oslo City Hall and Rådhusplassen in Oslo, Norway. File photo. Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0
But here's the problem. Donald Trump has already said he'd rather deal with somebody else. Two days ago he said Zelenskyy doesn't know what he's talking about, and said it's time for somebody else to negotiate on Ukraine's behalf.
So the man proposing the three-way summit is the same man Trump just said he wants out of the room.
Trump has floated a different three-way meeting too, with Putin and Xi Jinping, China's President, possibly at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on 18 and 19 November. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, says nobody has put forward any real proposals for that one yet.
Ukraine wants nothing to do with that version of diplomacy. Andriy Sybiha, Ukraine's Foreign Minister, says a Russia-China-US meeting without Ukraine in the room would only push Putin to keep fighting.
That's Ukraine's own foreign minister warning that talking about Ukraine without Ukraine helps Russia, not peace.
And there's strain underneath all of this. Trump has recently waived new sanctions on Russian energy and agreed to buy Russian diesel. That drew criticism from Ukraine and its allies. Zelenskyy says Ukraine needs its access to the Starshield satellite system back, plus more ballistic missile interceptors. Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, denies that Washington is deliberately withholding intelligence or supplies from Ukraine.
Witkoff and Kushner are also expected to push, while they're in Moscow, for the release of Stephen Hubbard, an American held in Russia on a sentence of six years and ten months.
Dmitry Peskov has confirmed Witkoff will brief Putin on what Oslo covered. Russia hasn't said a word yet about the Article 5-style guarantees, the ceasefire proposals, or the summit idea. Putin hasn't signalled whether he'll respond at all.
Zelenskyy also met Norway's king and visited Norway's parliament while he was in Oslo.
So Oslo produced a document, a one-day deadline, and a summit proposal Trump has already dismissed in one breath.
What happens next comes down to one thing. What Vladimir Putin says when Steve Witkoff puts that document in front of him.
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