Trilateral talks between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine are set to begin today in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to discuss the proposed peace plan that pushes for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The talks are likely to be spread across two days, and follow US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner’s Moscow visit late Thursday to meet Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
Russian officials confirmed that the meeting between Putin and US negotiators had continued into the early hours of Friday.
“A late Thursday evening meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff has ended. The talks went on for more than three hours,” said a statement by Kremlin, issued early Friday.
Putin is said to have been joined by his foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, and his envoy for international economic affairs, Kirill Dmitriev.
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Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who posted on social media on Thursday about travelling to the UAE for the meeting, has previously expressed doubt regarding the resolution of the main sticking point in the US-proposed peace plan – Russia’s demand for annexing parts of eastern Ukraine.
“Our team is currently en route to the United Arab Emirates for meetings with both the American and Russian sides,” Zelenskyy’st post read. “We will see how this proceeds and then determine our next steps,” he added.
The trilateral meeting comes a day after US President Donald Trump met Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He termed the meeting with Zelenskyy as being “good”, and added that it was an “ongoing process”. “My meeting with Zelenskyy was good and positive, but the last mile of negotiations remains extremely difficult,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy confirmed that post-war security guarantees for Ukraine had been finalised, but territorial issues remained unsolved.
Speaking at the WEF on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader said a draft deal was “nearly, nearly ready”.
Despite positive expectations from the impending meeting between Putin, Witkoff, and Kushner, Russian officials have warned that a durable and lasting peace would not be possible without resolving territorial issues.
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