Ukrainian, United States and Russian negotiators will maintain talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, marking the first known assembly to be attended by all three nations since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
The talks come after President Donald Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for greater than three hours starting late Thursday. Kremlin aide Ushakov described these talks as “exceptionally substantive, constructive, and, I would say, extremely frank and confidential.”
But he additionally warned that “without resolving the territorial issue… one should not count on achieving a long-term settlement,” and added that Russia would proceed to pursue its goals “on the battlefield, where the Russian Armed Forces hold the strategic initiative,” till an settlement is reached.
Russia’s delegation to Abu Dhabi will probably be led by Main Intelligence Directorate Chief Admiral Igor Olegovich Kostyukov. Ukraine’s will embody the deputy head of the presidential workplace and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov.
Hours earlier than flying to Moscow Witkoff mentioned negotiations have been “down to one issue,” suggesting an settlement was maybe inside attain.
“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 mentioned, talking at an occasion in Davos on Thursday.
A European official later confirmed to NCS that the remaining problem Witkoff referred to was territory.