The three parties to the weekend’s trilateral peace talks in the United Arab Emirates have individually confirmed they broke with an agreement to host more, with praise for constructive talks even if the key areas of friction clearly remain.
Further trilateral talks on the future of the Ukraine War are to take place, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Speaking from Moscow on Monday morning, Peskov told domestic press they are “scheduled for next week. I can’t give you the exact date right now though”. Earlier, U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff said: “plans were made to continue conversations next week in Abu Dhabi”.
These remarks follow others by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who seemed less firm on timescale but stated over the weekend the next round of talks could be “as early as next week” as long as the U.S. and Russian governments agreed. Talks could begin this coming weekend.
The trilateral talks, which lasted for two days over Friday-Saturday last week suggest progress towards peace has entered a new phase, with Ukraine and Russian negotiators sitting in the same room with U.S. intermediaries in Abu Dhabi. Per sources cited by Axios, talks ended with a joint lunch where Russian and Ukrainian delegates ate together, and “good” progress was made.
Witkoff called the discussions “constructive” and Zelensky reflected talks had focussed on “the possible parameters for ending the war”, praising as he did the mutual understanding taht there would have to be “American monitoring and control over the process of ending the war and maintaining real security.” Zelensky subsequently said a an agreement for U.S. security guarantees was now “100% ready” and just waiting to be signed.
Nevertheless, it is clear the fundamental points of difference on the war remain unresolved. Zelensky said that while there are fewer “problematic issues” now than before, he restated Ukraine’s longstanding position that its territory remains sacrosanct in face of Russia’s demand that Kyiv “give up all of the East” of the country.
The Ukrainian President said on not surrendering territory to Moscow for peace: ““I won’t repeat it, everyone knows our position. We are fighting for our country, for what is ours. We are not fighting on the territory of another country, so what questions could there be for us? Yes, these are two fundamentally different positions – the Ukrainian and the Russian. The Americans are trying to find a compromise.”
Russia attempted to frame this position, that Ukrainian territory is Ukrainian, even if it has been occupied by Moscow for over a decade in some cases, as Zelensky trying to delay peace. Moscow negotiator Kirill Dmitriev asserted: “Zelensky’s lecturing of Europeans in Davos did not go well. His delay in accepting territorial concessions is delaying peace”.
Ukraine also said Russia was undermining the peace process by continuing the launch massive airstrikes against civilian areas during talks. Power cuts are still ongoing across Ukraine amid freezing weather after Russian strikes on the energy network in recent weeks.
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