The United States and Russia have made their warmest moves in months, and it all happened within two days. On Tuesday, US envoy Steve Witkoff sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo, Norway. Early on Wednesday, he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. And later that same day, Russia let go of an American man it had been holding.
Zelenskyy came out of the Oslo meeting in a fairly upbeat mood. He told reporters that the recent problems with security cooperation between Kyiv and Washington had been sorted out. He was especially happy about early warning systems, which he said are very important for protecting ordinary people, children and civilians.
He also said a possible meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the US and Russia was one of the big ideas raised in Oslo. The leaders of Norway and Finland were also part of those talks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Oslo talks as positive, though he admitted nothing surprising came out of them. He said Witkoff would now take those ideas to St Petersburg and see whether they can move things forward with the Russian side. A US official also said Ukraine brought new proposals to the table, and that meaningful progress was made.
The big news came from Russia's state news agencies. They reported that Stephen Hubbard, an American retired schoolteacher, had been released. Hubbard is 74 years old. He was detained in Ukraine in 2022, and Russia later held him on charges that he was fighting as a mercenary, which he denies. Putin himself said Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport near St Petersburg.
At the time of writing, the United States had not confirmed the release. Trump had said on Tuesday that he raised the idea of freeing Hubbard with Putin, so the White House will likely want to claim this as a win.
That win is much needed. Diplomacy on the war has barely moved for months, and Trump's renewed push for a deal has angered many people, both at home and abroad. Critics say the US has been pulling back its support for Ukraine and getting closer to Moscow.
Trump has been blunt about his frustration. He told reporters in the Oval Office that the US wants Zelenskyy to make a deal, adding that America has given Ukraine a lot and received very little in return.
Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Ukraine would be the main topic when Putin and Witkoff sit down at the Constantine Palace in St Petersburg, and that Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev would also be there. Jared Kushner was expected to join the talks online.
Even so, the mood on the ground remains grim. At least nine civilians were killed across Ukraine on Wednesday, as Russia steps up strikes on energy facilities ahead of winter. A Russian drone attack also hit Kyiv that day. Russia's Bryansk region said one person there died in a Ukrainian strike.
Kyiv has its own complaints. Ukrainian officials say they got no advance warning about at least three major Russian attacks. They are also unhappy that restrictions on Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service are still making it harder for them to run their air defences and battlefield operations. Rubio insisted the White House was not behind the slowdown and said the matter was between Musk and SpaceX. Musk, for his part, has said the final call rests with Trump.
Putin still says he will only meet Zelenskyy once a deal has been finalised, and that the meeting must take place in Moscow. Ukraine has rejected that idea. Moscow has also not backed away from its tough demands, which include taking control of Ukraine's entire eastern Donbas region. So while this week has brought some good news, anyone hoping for a quick end to the war will need to keep their expectations in check.
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