MOSCOW — US, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will hold talks in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi on Friday in the first trilateral meeting since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.However, after a late-night meeting between President Vladimir Putin and three US envoys Russia warned that a durable peace would not be possible unless territorial issues were resolved.Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov confirmed Russia would join representatives from Ukraine and the US for the “first meeting of the trilateral working group on security issues” in Abu Dhabi, confirming an earlier statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The talks come after President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met Putin for more than three hours late Thursday. Ushakov described those talks as “exceptionally substantive, constructive, and, I would say, extremely frank and confidential.”But he also warned that “without resolving the territorial issue… one should not count on achieving a long-term settlement,” and added that Russia would continue to pursue its objectives “on the battlefield, where the Russian Armed Forces hold the strategic initiative,” until an agreement is reached.Recent US-led efforts to broker an end to the four-year war have so far failed to halt the fighting, with Moscow’s demands Ukraine give up territory claimed by Russia long a sticking-point in negotiations.Russia is occupying around 20% of the territory recognized under international law as part of sovereign Ukraine, including almost all of the Luhansk region, and parts of the Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.Moscow’s longstanding demands include Ukraine surrendering the entirety of these four regions, which it has annexed but not fully conquered.Russia’s delegation to Abu Dhabi will be led by Main Intelligence Directorate Chief Admiral Igor Olegovich Kostyukov. Ukraine’s will include the deputy head of the presidential office and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov. The White House has yet to comment on the meeting.Minutes after the Putin-Witkoff meeting kicked off, Russia said its long-range bomber aircraft conducted a scheduled five-hour patrol flight over the Baltic Sea on Thursday, a move likely intended as a show of force as diplomatic efforts intensify.Ukraine is enduring its harshest winter since the war began as Russia mounts heavy missile and drone strikes on its energy infrastructure. With temperatures way below freezing, hundreds of thousands of people in Kyiv and other cities have suffered long power cuts and been left without heating.Ukraine’s Energy Minister said the country’s power grid endured its most difficult day since late 2022 due to “constant enemy attacks.” Hours before flying to Moscow Witkoff said negotiations were “down to one issue,” suggesting an agreement was perhaps within reach.“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, speaking at an event in Davos on Thursday.A European official later confirmed to CNN that the remaining issue Witkoff referred to was territory, without giving further specifics.The Trump administration has placed increased pressure on Ukraine to accept a peace deal, despite widespread concerns such an arrangement could favor Moscow.On Thursday Zelensky delivered a fiery speech in Davos, calling out European leaders on not doing more to stop Putin’s war, comparing it to their response to Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.Zelensky also reiterated that unresolved territorial issues in the East would be central to peace discussions.“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.” — AgenciesMOSCOW — US, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will hold talks in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi on Friday in the first trilateral meeting since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.However, after a late-night meeting between President Vladimir Putin and three US envoys Russia warned that a durable peace would not be possible unless territorial issues were resolved.Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov confirmed Russia would join representatives from Ukraine and the US for the “first meeting of the trilateral working group on security issues” in Abu Dhabi, confirming an earlier statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The talks come after President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met Putin for more than three hours late Thursday. Ushakov described those talks as “exceptionally substantive, constructive, and, I would say, extremely frank and confidential.”But he also warned that “without resolving the territorial issue… one should not count on achieving a long-term settlement,” and added that Russia would continue to pursue its objectives “on the battlefield, where the Russian Armed Forces hold the strategic initiative,” until an agreement is reached.Recent US-led efforts to broker an end to the four-year war have so far failed to halt the fighting, with Moscow’s demands Ukraine give up territory claimed by Russia long a sticking-point in negotiations.Russia is occupying around 20% of the territory recognized under international law as part of sovereign Ukraine, including almost all of the Luhansk region, and parts of the Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.Moscow’s longstanding demands include Ukraine surrendering the entirety of these four regions, which it has annexed but not fully conquered.Russia’s delegation to Abu Dhabi will be led by Main Intelligence Directorate Chief Admiral Igor Olegovich Kostyukov. Ukraine’s will include the deputy head of the presidential office and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov. The White House has yet to comment on the meeting.Minutes after the Putin-Witkoff meeting kicked off, Russia said its long-range bomber aircraft conducted a scheduled five-hour patrol flight over the Baltic Sea on Thursday, a move likely intended as a show of force as diplomatic efforts intensify.Ukraine is enduring its harshest winter since the war began as Russia mounts heavy missile and drone strikes on its energy infrastructure. With temperatures way below freezing, hundreds of thousands of people in Kyiv and other cities have suffered long power cuts and been left without heating.Ukraine’s Energy Minister said the country’s power grid endured its most difficult day since late 2022 due to “constant enemy attacks.” Hours before flying to Moscow Witkoff said negotiations were “down to one issue,” suggesting an agreement was perhaps within reach.“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, speaking at an event in Davos on Thursday.A European official later confirmed to CNN that the remaining issue Witkoff referred to was territory, without giving further specifics.The Trump administration has placed increased pressure on Ukraine to accept a peace deal, despite widespread concerns such an arrangement could favor Moscow.On Thursday Zelensky delivered a fiery speech in Davos, calling out European leaders on not doing more to stop Putin’s war, comparing it to their response to Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.Zelensky also reiterated that unresolved territorial issues in the East would be central to peace discussions.“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.” — Agencies
US, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators set to meet in Abu Dhabi
