RUSSIAN, Ukrainian and US negotiators are set to hold talks in the United Arab Emirates, marking the first meeting involving all three countries since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin confirmed Russia’s participation after President Vladimir Putin met US envoys in Moscow, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the discussions were ‘substantive, constructive and very frank’, but stressed that no durable peace was possible without resolving territorial questions.
‘Until this is achieved, Russia will continue to consistently pursue the objectives of the special military operation,’ he said, adding that Putin was ‘sincerely interested’ in diplomacy.
Ushakov said a long-term settlement depended on agreement over territory ‘according to the formula agreed upon in Anchorage’, referring to last year’s summit between Putin and US President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he viewed the Abu Dhabi talks as ‘a step – hopefully towards ending the war’, while warning that outcomes remained uncertain.
‘It’s all about the land. This is the issue which is not solved yet,’ he said in Davos.
He later said: ‘The Donbass issue is key. It will be discussed as will be the modality of how the three sides see it.’
Territory remains the central obstacle, including Russia’s demand that Ukraine relinquish the remaining 25 per cent of the Donetsk region under Kiev’s control.
Zelensky has said a US-backed 20-point plan to end the war is 90 per cent complete.
He has offered a mutual withdrawal of forces by up to 40 kilometres to create a demilitarised economic zone, paired with security guarantees for Ukraine.
Ukraine’s delegation will include defence and security officials, among them Rustem Umerov and chief of the general staff Andrii Hnatov.
Russia’s team will be led by General Igor Kostyukov, while investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev is due to hold separate economic talks with Witkoff.
Zelensky said he had reached an understanding with Trump on future US security guarantees, though any agreement would require approval by the US Congress and Ukraine’s parliament.
The diplomatic push comes as fighting continues. Overnight, both sides reported drone attacks.
In Russia, Penza Oblast governor Oleg Melnichenko said a strike sparked a fire at an oil depot.
Ukraine’s armed forces reported drones hitting 12 locations.
