US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky are due to meet in Oslo, with relations on the slide between the Ukrainian leader and US President Donald Trump. Ahead of the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected as "scandalous" and "outrageous" accusations that Ukrainians were dying because the US was withholding intelligence from Kyiv.

He was speaking after Zelensky's military technical adviser, Serhii " Flash" Beskrestnov, told the BBC that the lack of reliable US warnings meant lives were being lost." This looks very strange," said Beskrestnov.

" Sometimes we receive this information before the attack, another time we [do] not." Zelensky first met the Norwegian prime minister and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, ahead of his planned talks in person with Witkoff, with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner taking part via video link.

Støre said the aim of the Oslo talks was to steer relations towards "a more constructive path". He told reporters at the parliament in Norway that they wanted to ensure that the war ended diplomatically with a lasting and just peace.

The Ukrainian leader said earlier he had had a "constructive discussion" with Rubio about the need for US early warnings, missile interceptors and SpaceX's Starlink internet network. Last week a bipartisan group of US senators called for an urgent investigation into disruptions to the Starlink network in Ukraine, and unconfirmed reports on Tuesday said the transfer of more Patriot interceptors had not yet been approved.

The US secretary of state is currently on a visit to India and admitted to reporters that it may be true that Patriot interceptor missiles had not yet arrived in Ukraine, although nothing had been denied to Kyiv intentionally. Zelensky was set to join his Norwegian and Finnish counterparts for a press conference after the talks, but Witkoff was not expected to join them, according to the government in Oslo, external.

It is not yet clear whether Witkoff will travel on to Russia after his visit to Oslo, however the Kremlin spokesman said he hoped a meeting with Trump's special envoy could be organised in the near future. Earlier this month Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed the war with Trump over the phone, and afterwards the US president announced that Moscow would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and other markets, bringing to an end American sanctions on Russian diesel exports.

Ahead of next month's US midterm elections, Trump has blamed Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries for fuel prices which have reached record highs at the pump since the start of the US-led war on Iran. European leaders have expressed concern about recent statements from the US towards Russia, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke on Monday of "mixed pictures and messages" on the war, adding that he was trying to convince the American government "in total that this is something we have to resolve jointly".