Zelensky touts positive signals from American side after Norway summit, call with Rubio

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky touted “positive signals” from a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and an Oslo, Norway, summit with US special envoys, as President Trump said “it’s time” to reach a peace deal to end the more than four-year war with Russia.“We began early in the morning on the way to Oslo, and in the train, I had a conversation with Secretary Rubio and we spoke about sensitive issues like connection, Starlink, about interceptors, which are very important, about intelligence,” Zelensky told reporters on the sidelines of the summit Tuesday.The Ukrainian leader added that in the quadrilateral meeting with Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, he had received assurances that his country would be given “strong” security guarantees.Witkoff will share those in a “document” with Russian negotiators on Wednesday, Zelensky shared.US special envoy Jared Kushner also joined the talks remotely.A US official told The Post earlier Tuesday that the envoys hoped to present a proposal to Russia that would define “new and enduring security architecture between Russia and Europe” and open up “postwar economic cooperation.”In the background, Witkoff will also be seeking the release of 72-year-old American citizen Stephen Hubbard from a Moscow prison, the official said.“These discussions remain fluid, and substantial work remains.

President Trump’s objective is clear: to end the killing, bring the war to a close, and establish the conditions for a lasting peace that benefits Ukraine, Russia, Europe, and the United States,” the official added.Earlier this month, Witkoff and Kushner met with Ukrainian mediators in Florida that centered on Kyiv’s requests for security guarantees from the US and Europe, future accession into the EU and a postwar financial plan for Zelensky’s war-torn country, according to one source familiar ...