Russia, US, Ukraine to talk in UAE

Russia, the United States and Ukraine will hold talks in the United Arab Emirates on security matters related to a potential peace deal, a Russian official confirmed on Friday.

It will mark the first meeting of the trio since Moscow launched its special military operation in Ukraine nearly four years ago.

The full details of the talks in Abu Dhabi were not released. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the "first trilateral meeting" would last two days.

Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Friday morning that the Russian delegation was dispatched on Putin's instructions and led by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency.

"It was agreed today that the first meeting of the trilateral working group on security issues will take place in Abu Dhabi. The group consists of representatives from Russia, the US and Ukraine," he said.

The US negotiating team will be headed by US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, and Ukraine's delegation will be led by Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

Moscow's announcement came after Putin met with Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner in marathon talks that ended past 3 am on Friday.

Ushakov, who took part in the Kremlin negotiations, said "it was reaffirmed that a lasting settlement cannot be achieved without addressing the territorial issue" — a reference to Moscow's demand that Kyiv pull its troops out of Russian-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.

He said that during the talks, the US side expressed hope that the dialogue would pave the way for progress on all issues linked to ending the conflict and securing a peaceful settlement.

"The meeting was in every sense useful both for Russia and for the US," he said. "The two sides will maintain close communication both on Ukraine and other topics."

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelensky pointed out that any progress toward peace would require mutual compromise, not one-sided concessions from Ukraine alone.

Both Kyiv and Moscow are mired in a "difficult situation", he said, adding that the future status of Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine remains "unresolved" while peace proposals are "nearly finalized".

But progress, he said, would require both sides to make concessions. "Russians have to be ready for compromises because, you know, everybody has to be ready, not only Ukraine," he said.

He earlier held a closed-door meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the Davos forum. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington, Trump said his meeting with Zelensky went well, adding that "everyone's making concessions" to try to end the conflict.

Witkoff said on Thursday that "a lot of progress" has been made in the long-running Russia-Ukraine talks and that negotiations are down to one last 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, without saying what it was.

The US has conducted separate consultations with Russia, Ukraine and European leaders on various draft frameworks aimed at ending the conflict. However, no formal deal has been reached so far, despite Trump's repeated pledges to broker a resolution.

"What we need is to keep our eyes on the ball of Ukraine. Let's not drop that ball. And that means, yes, great, peace talks. Fantastic. We will do everything to conclude them successfully, but that will not happen tomorrow," said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Agencies contributed to this story.

cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn