The Kremlin has confirmed that Russia will participate in trilateral peace negotiations with the US and Ukraine for the first time. The meeting is set for today in Abu Dhabi.
The development comes after separate meetings between an American delegation and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and discussions between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Davos.
After Putin met with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s peace envoy, and Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, for four hours on Thursday night, the Kremlin confirmed Russia’s involvement. Although they warned that a breakthrough was not assured, Russian officials characterized the talks as “exceptionally substantive, constructive, and extremely frank and trusting.”
Referencing agreements reached at last year’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, Moscow reaffirmed its long-standing stance that a long-term settlement would be impossible unless territorial issues are resolved. It also stated that until a diplomatic solution is achieved, Russia will keep up military operations.
Zelenskyy seemed to imply that the trilateral meeting was a last-minute Washington initiative that was only set up following his meeting with Trump in Davos on Thursday.
Kyiv said it would be represented by its lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, and Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov. Moscow, meanwhile, said Admiral Igor Kostyukov would head the Russian delegation at the UAE-based security talks.
Although no deal was reached when Trump and Putin met in Alaska in August, the leaders are believed to have discussed the possibility of Ukraine relinquishing territory in exchange for an end to the fighting. Putin reportedly told the US president that Russia wanted the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including areas not currently under Russian control.
Zelenskyy has previously said Moscow was seeking control of the rest of Donetsk, effectively the entire eastern Donbas region, as part of a ceasefire proposal. He said Ukraine would reject such terms, warning that they would strip the country of its crucial defensive “fortress belt” and leave it vulnerable to further Russian offensives.
The agreement on trilateral talks comes after Zelenskyy publicly expressed frustration with Europe’s response to the war during a forceful speech in Davos. He accused European leaders of inaction and warned the continent against repeating the same mistakes.
“Just last year here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words ‘Europe needs to know how to defend itself’ — a year has passed and nothing has changed,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later pushed back, saying Europe’s support for Ukraine had been substantial and consistent. She said the European Union had committed more than €193bn over the past four years, with an additional €90bn approved for the next two years.
Zelenskyy’s remarks followed what he described as a positive meeting with Trump, during which he said a peace plan was “nearly ready.” However, both Kyiv and Moscow remain focused on territorial disagreements and persuading Washington to support their respective red lines.
Zelenskyy left the Davos forum saying Ukraine had secured agreements on a new air defence package and claimed Russian forces were suffering losses of about 45,000 troops each month.