#RadioMoskva Is a Ukraine peace deal in the works? Something important appears to have happened in Oslo yesterday. At a press conference following a meeting between leaders from Ukraine, US, Finland and Norway the tone of statements changed dramatically, and US envoy Steve Witkoff immediately left to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg today. Something is going on. We do not yet know exactly what Washington has put on the table, but there were tantalising hints like Zelenskiy mentioning “security deal,” and clearly it was a productive meeting according to all the participants. Most important is that both Ukraine and the EU heads dialled their criticism of the Trump administration back after several days of lambasting him following last week’s diesel deal with Putin. All the positive language from Kyiv and the US suggests that a package centred on American security guarantees may finally have broken the deadlock. Now Witkoff is now in St Petersburg to see whether Vladimir Putin will buy it. Trump is desperate for a deal ahead of a trouncing in the midterm elections in a few weeks. Zelenskiy is desperate as he is unable to prevent the bombardment of Ukraine that Russia has already launched. He has run out of time to get his allies to help as the heating season has just started and not only does he not have enough interceptor missiles, since the Starlink satellite system was throttled not even Ukraine’s jet powered interceptor missiles work anymore. The only person not in a rush is Putin. Sure, the Russian economy is hurting, but it is nowhere near crisis and has still has resources to continue for at least two more years, Russian oligarch-turned-dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky told IntelliNews this month. Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. A US official described the discussions as "very productive and constructive", said Ukraine had brought forward “new proposals,” and claimed there had been "meaningful progress" towards a common US-Ukrainian-European position. The mellow remarks come after a week of shouting where Zelenskiy said Trump had “betrayed" Ukraine and Trump said that Zelenskiy had to go and that he was a “dictator.” The most important clue came from Zelenskiy himself: he said the package now contains security guarantees modelled on Nato's Article 5 — exactly the issue Kyiv has spent years trying to nail down. "We discussed Nato, Article 5 and Article 5-like guarantees," Zelenskiy said after the meeting. "Different types of security guarantees are included in the document, which Steve will share with the Russians, and we will hear their feedback.” He also thanked Washington for reiterating that the guarantees would be "reliable". And this is not unlikely. Part of the 27-point peace plan (27PPP) that the Dynamic Envoy Duo thrashed out at the Moscow meeting on December 3 with Putin included a “Nato Article-5 like” security deal – the only genuine innovation that Trump administration has brought to the party – that Zelenskiy has suggested would be enough for him to consider giving territory away. Since then Kushner has said this month that giving up Donbas is the key that would unlock the deal. That does not mean a peace deal has been done. Far from it. But it does look increasingly as though Washington has put a serious security offer on the table. The big question is whether Putin will accept it. Witkoff arrived in St Petersburg on October 21, and the meeting is underway as I write. What happens in that room is suddenly far more important than most of the endless diplomatic meetings held over the last four years. After the Moscow meeting this looks like the next big opportunity to break the deadlock. This article originally appeared in Editor’s Picks, a free daily email digest of bne IntelliNews’ best stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up for free here. to989.infusionsoft.com/app/f… bneeditor.substack.com/p/is-…