The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, considered positive contacts between U.S. emissary Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday in Oslo. The meeting took place amid tensions between Ukraine and the US, especially regarding information sharing via Starlink.
© Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
21/10/2026
by
Lusa
O u.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio considered positive contacts between U.S. emissary Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday in Oslo.
Rubio added that Witkoff was at that time on his way to a meeting with the Russian authorities, notably with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, where he has already arrived.
“ It was positive, nothing unexpected, nothing surprising. Now, with these ideas, he can go to St. Petersburg and share them with the Russian side. Let’s see if we can make some progress,” said Marco Rubio to journalists in India, where an official visit is taking place.
Witkoff's diplomatic initiative takes place after a week of strong tension between Ukraine and the United States, especially with regard to information sharing and communications via SpaceX, the telecommunications and high-tech company of Elon Musk.
In this regard, the head of US diplomacy reiterated that the United States was not previously informed about the slowdown in SpaceX satellite communications — used by Ukraine in operations on the battlefield against Russia.
“The President [of the United States] has no relation to the decisions made by Starlink, Starshield or [Elon] Musk,” he said.
“It’s a private company. The President does not run this company and cannot order anything (...). There was no prior knowledge” on the subject, he added.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk ordered the limitation of the services of the Starshield satellite network in Ukraine, although the multimillionaire previously stated that any restriction to this system would ultimately have been decided by Donald Trump.
In addressing the ongoing diplomatic negotiations, Rubio noted that at the heart of them are the Donbass areas that Russia claims.
Asked whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be attending a meeting of the G20 countries in Atlanta, United States next week, said he hoped the minister would be present, although he did not confirm his possible presence.
It is possible that the Russian President “also attends” at the G20 summit in Miami in December, “although we have no confirmation of this,” added Marco Rubio.
President Donald Trump invited Russia to attend the meetings that will take place in the United States.