Davos: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the future of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region will be a key focus as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States meet in Abu Dhabi on Friday for talks to end Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion.
The UAE’s foreign ministry said the talks commenced on Friday and are scheduled to continue over two days “as part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis.”
The three-way talks come hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the settlement in Ukraine with US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during marathon overnight talks. The Kremlin insisted that to reach a peace deal, Kyiv must withdraw its troops from the areas in the east that Russia illegally annexed but never fully captured.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, reiterated his openness to establishing a free trade zone under Ukraine’s control in the country’s east. He said he discussed the proposal with Trump in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, and told reporters: “I think it will be positive for our business.”
Friday is the first known time that officials from the Trump administration simultaneously meet with negotiators from both Ukraine and Russia. While it’s unclear how the talks will unfold and many obstacles to peace remain, some see it as a sign that the parties are making headway in closing a deal.
Zelenskyy said after meeting with Trump that while the future status of land in eastern Ukraine currently occupied by Russia remains unresolved, the peace proposals are “nearly ready.”
“Today’s meeting will be in the format of Ukraine, Russia and the United States, and afterward the Europeans will certainly receive feedback from us,” Zelenskyy told journalists in a WhatsApp audio message.
The Kremlin offered little detail beyond calling Friday’s meeting a “working group on
security issues.”