Representatives from the United States, Ukraine and Russia are set to hold trilateral talks on Friday in the United Arab Emirates, marking the first known meeting involving all three parties since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The talks, described by Moscow as the inaugural meeting of a “trilateral working group on security issues,” will take place in Abu Dhabi, according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov.
The announcement confirms earlier remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. No specific start time has been disclosed.
The meeting follows lengthy discussions late Thursday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who was joined by Jared Kushner.
Ushakov characterized that meeting as “exceptionally substantive, constructive, and extremely frank,” but cautioned that progress toward a lasting peace would be impossible without resolving territorial disputes.
Russia continues to occupy roughly 20% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including most of the Luhansk region and parts of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede all four regions areas Russia claims to have annexed despite not fully controlling them an insistence that has long stalled negotiations.
Ushakov said Russia would continue pursuing its objectives “on the battlefield,” noting that Russian forces retain what he called the strategic initiative until an agreement is reached.
The Russian delegation will be led by Admiral Igor Olegovich Kostyukov, chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate. Ukraine’s team will include Andrii Hnatov, Chief of the General Staff, and the deputy head of the presidential office.
The White House has not publicly commented on the talks.
As diplomacy intensified, Russia also announced that long-range bomber aircraft conducted a five-hour patrol flight over the Baltic Sea on Thursday, a move widely viewed as a show of force.
Speaking earlier in the week, Witkoff suggested negotiations were “down to one issue,” later confirmed by a European official to be territory.
Addressing an audience in Davos, Witkoff said the remaining obstacle was difficult but “solvable.”
President Donald Trump echoed that sentiment during the World Economic Forum, saying he believed both sides were close to an agreement.
His comments, however, have drawn criticism amid concerns that US pressure could push Ukraine into concessions favoring Moscow.
President Zelensky, also speaking in Davos, emphasized that unresolved territorial issues in eastern Ukraine remain at the heart of any peace deal.
“It’s all about the land,” he said. “This is the issue that is not solved yet.”
Meanwhile, fighting continues to take a toll on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. More than one million people remain without power and heating following recent Russian missile and drone strikes.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister said Thursday marked the country’s most challenging day for the power grid since late 2022.
As talks begin in Abu Dhabi, expectations remain cautious, with territory emerging once again as the defining challenge to ending Europe’s largest conflict in decades.
