Russian, Ukrainian, and US negotiators will hold their first trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on Friday, a senior Kremlin aide said after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US President Donald Trump’s envoys in Moscow.
Putin spoke for nearly four hours with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum. Putin’s aide, Yury Ushakov, and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev took part on the Russian side.
In a phone call with journalists, Ushakov hailed the talks as “substantive, constructive, and extremely candid.”
Ushakov said the trilateral working group on security will meet for the first time in Abu Dhabi later on Friday. He added that the Russian team led by Admiral Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU military intelligence, had received instructions from Putin and will fly to the UAE in the coming hours.
Witkoff and Dmitriev will meet separately in Abu Dhabi to discuss Russia-US trade, Ushakov said.
Ushakov said the Russian side stressed once again that peace between Moscow and Kiev is impossible “without resolving the territorial issue.”
“We remain interested in resolving the Ukrainian crisis by political and diplomatic means. However, if it does not happen, Russia will continue accomplishing its goals on the battlefield where the Russian troops have the initiative,” he said.
On Thursday, Trump met with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He told later journalists aboard Air Force One that he remains optimistic about brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine, while acknowledging the “complicated” issue of borders.
“There were times then Putin didn’t want to make a deal, and times when Zelensky didn’t want to make a deal. Now I think they both want to make a deal,” Trump said.
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine withdraw troops from parts of Russian territory they control, and recognize Russia’s new borders, including Crimea and the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Zelensky has ruled out making any territorial concessions.