Jonas Gahr Støre
Jonas Gahr Støre is a Norwegian politician and leader of the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet). He has served as Prime Minister of Norway since 2021, heading a coalition government. Earlier in his career he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2012 and also briefly served as Minister of Health.
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Ukraine, US and Russia to hold trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi
Ukraine, the United States and Russia have agreed to hold a command-level trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. The exact date and final format remain unsettled, with European participation neither confirmed nor formally ruled out. The talks are expected to focus on security arrangements after the start of a peace settlement.
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Russia pounds Kyiv with 21 ballistic missiles and 210 drones overnight, hours after talks agreed
Russia launched a massive combined missile and drone strike on Ukraine overnight into 22 October, with the main target being Kyiv. Three waves of ballistic missiles struck the capital, killing one person, injuring 22 and damaging residential buildings, a monastery, a hypermarket, a metro bridge and other civilian sites. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack came immediately after the latest round of negotiations and showed no real change in Russia's attitude, while Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha contrasted the destruction with US envoy Steve Witkoff's recent description of Vladimir Putin as a "humanist".
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Merz rejects Ukraine's capitulation and warns of Russian hybrid threats
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine's capitulation, including unconditional surrender, was not an option and pledged continued German support to help end the war as quickly as possible. He said Germany and other European countries remain ready for negotiations, while describing Russian disinformation and hybrid attacks as major security threats. Merz also said the Oslo talks involving Volodymyr Zelensky, Steve Witkoff and European leaders had produced some progress.
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Witkoff brings Oslo proposals to Putin in St. Petersburg; Russia signals readiness for new trilateral talks in mid-November
US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo on October 20, then traveled to St. Petersburg for a roughly three-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 21. After the talks, Witkoff said Moscow was prepared to resume trilateral US-Russia-Ukraine negotiations in the second ten days of November. The St. Petersburg meeting opened with the announced release of American Stephen Hubbard, held in Russia for over four years.
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Zelensky Discusses Ukraine’s Defense Funding With Norway’s Political Leaders
President Volodymyr Zelensky met with the speaker of Norway’s Storting and leaders of all the country’s political parties to discuss financial support for Ukraine, including its defense budget deficit. They also addressed efforts to return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
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Oslo talks bring Zelensky, Witkoff and European partners together on security guarantees for Ukraine
On 20 October 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo, alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, with Jared Kushner joining remotely. The talks covered security guarantees for Ukraine, territorial questions, sanctions, post-war reconstruction and the European security order, and produced a document of guarantee options that Witkoff is to take to Moscow.
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Zelensky and Rubio hold 45-minute call on missile interceptors, early warning and Starlink/Starshield
On October 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a roughly 45-minute phone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio covering three main topics: ballistic missile interceptors for Ukraine, early warning about Russian ballistic attacks, and the situation around Starlink and Starshield satellite services. Zelensky described the talks as substantive and constructive, while Rubio, speaking to journalists during a visit to India, said US policy toward Ukraine and intelligence sharing remain unchanged and attributed recent warning failures to a technical problem under investigation.
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Ukraine and Belgium agree on transfer of three F-16 jets by year-end
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on 29 September that Ukraine and Belgium had reached an agreement to transfer three F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by the end of the year under an expedited procedure. Zelensky said Ukraine had already received ammunition for F-16s from Belgium and other countries including Spain, and thanked Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and the Belgian government for their support.
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Norway announces 85 billion kroner ($9 billion) Ukraine aid package for 2027
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced an 85 billion Norwegian kroner (approximately $9 billion) aid package for Ukraine for 2027 during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Finnish President Alexander Stubb on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on 23 September. The majority of the funding will go to military assistance, with air defence as a key priority, alongside humanitarian aid and energy infrastructure protection.
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Norwegian PM says drone nearly hit Zelensky's plane in Moldova; Ukrainian side calls claim 'exaggerated'
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said on September 9 that a drone nearly struck the plane carrying President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as it departed Moldova for Oslo on September 8, where Zelenskyy was to attend the funeral of King Harald V. Norwegian and Ukrainian officials later said the flight was delayed by a Moldovan airspace closure caused by Russian drones, and that it remained unknown how close the drones came to the aircraft. Zelenskyy attended the funeral on September 9 and left Norway shortly afterward.