Ukrainian, Russian, and United States negotiators are set to meet in the United Arab Emirates on Friday for what will be the first known trilateral talks since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov confirmed that Russia would join Ukraine and the US for the “first meeting of the trilateral working group on security issues” in Abu Dhabi, echoing an earlier statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ushakov did not disclose the scheduled start time for the discussions.
The meeting follows a separate engagement in Moscow on Thursday, where President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner held more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ushakov described the discussions as “exceptionally substantive, constructive, and, I would say, extremely frank and confidential.”
However, he cautioned that “without resolving the territorial issue… one should not count on achieving a long-term settlement,” and added that Russia would continue pursuing its objectives “on the battlefield, where the Russian Armed Forces hold the strategic initiative,” until a deal is reached.
Efforts led by the US to end the four-year conflict have so far failed to halt the fighting, with Moscow’s insistence that Ukraine cede territory remaining a major obstacle.
Russia currently occupies roughly 20% of internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, including nearly all of Luhansk and portions of Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Moscow’s maximalist demands call for Ukraine to surrender all four of these areas, which it has annexed but not fully controlled.
Russia will be represented in Abu Dhabi by Main Intelligence Directorate Chief Admiral Igor Olegovich Kostyukov, while Ukraine’s delegation includes the deputy head of the presidential office and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov.
The White House has yet to release a statement on the meeting.
Minutes after the Putin-Witkoff talks began, Russia reported that its long-range bombers conducted a five-hour patrol over the Baltic Sea, a likely demonstration of military strength as diplomatic efforts ramp up.
Speaking hours before traveling to Moscow, Witkoff suggested the talks could be nearing a breakthrough, saying negotiations were “down to one issue.”
“I think we’ve got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it’s solvable,” he said at an event in Davos on Thursday.
A European official later confirmed to CNN that the issue Witkoff referred to was territorial, without providing further detail.
Putin has long sought Ukraine’s Donbas region, prized for its fertile land and strategic rivers. Losing it would leave central Ukraine’s open plains exposed to any future Russian offensives.
The Trump administration has increased pressure on Ukraine to agree to a peace deal, despite concerns that any settlement could favor Moscow.
Speaking in Davos, Trump suggested a deal might be close. “I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done, and if they don’t, they’re stupid,” he said, referring to Zelensky and Putin.
Zelensky, for his part, delivered a forceful speech in Davos, criticizing European leaders for not doing more to halt Russia’s aggression, comparing their inaction to Trump’s threats over Greenland.
He stressed that unresolved territorial questions in Eastern Ukraine would remain central to peace talks.
“It’s all about the Eastern part of our country, it’s all about the land,” he said. “This is the issue that is not solved yet.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to battle the harsh winter without heat, following Russian missile and drone attacks that left more than a million people without power.
On Thursday, the country’s Energy Minister described it as the power grid’s most challenging day since late 2022 due to “constant enemy attacks.”
