Diplomatic Power Plays: Your Daily Global Briefing

The plane is on its way to Moscow. On board is the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. He is scheduled to meet Vladimir Putin today. This comes just hours after talks in Oslo with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy. In our last brief, we spoke of shifting alliances; this hour, the board is being reset entirely, and not everyone is playing for the same side. While Washington pushes for a deal, its allies are fracturing. The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has openly accused the US of trying to force Ukraine into surrender. She called President Trump's recent decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel a "gift to Putin." That is a direct challenge, not diplomatic language. Meanwhile, other alliances are hardening. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov just left Tehran after pledging Moscow's full support.

His Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, posted it publicly: "Never in our history have Iran and Russia worked as closely as now." That part is confirmed. In the Gulf, the UK is sending RAF Typhoon fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. The stated mission is purely defensive: protecting Saudi cities from escalating Houthi drone and missile attacks. And two major economic moves are underway. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Mumbai, saying a major trade deal with India is now "very, very close." At the same time, Pakistan's army chief is in Tehran, opening yet another diplomatic channel in the Middle East. So let's go back to those talks in Oslo. The official line from a US source is that they were "constructive." That they made "meaningful progress." That is claimed, not confirmed. What we know for a fact is that President Zelenskyy was there, trying to repair a relationship with Washington that had sunk to new lows.

He confirmed the US has resumed sharing intelligence on Russian strikes against civilian targets. That is a concrete step, not just words. It happened only after President Trump had publicly called for Zelenskyy to be replaced at the negotiating table and struck a deal with Moscow for diesel to lower US fuel prices ahead of midterm elections. The Americans say the Oslo talks covered a "comprehensive peace framework." They're talking about security guarantees, a post-war economic plan. Zelenskyy himself mentioned "Article 5-like" guarantees — a promise that an attack on one is an attack on all. That is what Kyiv has wanted from the start. But while these talks were happening, Russian drones were hitting the power grid in Kyiv, leaving parts of the capital without electricity and water. The messages I'm getting from contacts on the ground there say the same thing.

One just reads: "They are talking. We are in the dark." Now Witkoff takes whatever was decided in Oslo to Putin. He is trying to create a path to direct negotiations. But with Europe openly skeptical and Russia escalating its attacks on the ground, the path is narrow. And it is lined with traps. Everyone is talking about peace. But on the ground, the moves look more like preparation for the next phase of the war. The handshakes are happening in one city, while the bombs fall on another. That is the picture from here. Back to you in the studio.