US envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in St Petersburg to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin after talks US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as slides with Ukrainian President Volodyyr Zelensky.

The visit comes at a time of effort to ease tensions between US President Donald Trump and Zelensky over Russia’s fight against Ukraine.

After talks with Witkoff in Oslo, on Tuesday Zelensky thanked Washington for restarting the exchange of intelligence information on Russian attacks.

We are grateful that intelligence functions, Zelensky told reporters in Oslo, describing early warnings as very, very important to our people, for our children, for adults, for civilians when ballistic missiles were about to strike.

Recent talks come after several days of tensions between Kiev and Washington.

Zelensky and Trump have had an unstable relationship since the US president launched his second mandate in January last year; however, the relationship has further deteriorated in recent weeks, after Trump reached an agreement on oil (dielment) with Putin and criticised the impact Ukrainian attacks on the Russian energy sector have had on global fuel prices.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump reiterated calls for Zelensky to reach an agreement with Russia, while Moscow intensifys attacks on Ukraine on the eve of winter.

Zelensky, meanwhile, has accused Washington of delaying shipments of wire missiles for which European countries have already paid; according to reports, some of these shipments are pending US approval.

Ukrainian President also stressed that Kiev should be involved in any negotiations dealing with its future.

If there are issues related to Ukraine, with our future, this could be acceptable only when we are at the negotiating table, Zelensky said on Tuesday. /Telegraph/