Decisive moment in the war in Ukraine. “The Americans have made considerable efforts” / Unique meeting today, after Putin's talk with Trump's emissaries

Delegations from the US, Ukraine and Russia are heading to Abu Dhabi for the first trilateral talks since the nearly 4-year war. Friday's meeting follows a meeting in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and a meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in Davos, The Guardian, Reuters and Sky News report.

This is the first time the three countries will meet since the invasion of Russia in 2022.

The meeting was confirmed in the early hours of Friday morning after talks in the Kremlin between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The Kiev leader suggested the trilateral meeting was a last-minute idea by Washington, which was organized only after he and Trump met in Davos on Thursday.

Kiev said it would send chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and Zelenskiy's chief of staff Kirilo Budanov.

The warning of Putin's man

Russia said it would hold security talks with the US and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Friday, but warned that lasting peace would not be possible unless territorial issues were resolved.

Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the talks, which began shortly before midnight and lasted about four hours, were “useful in all respects”, adding that “it was agreed that the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security issues will be held today in Abu Dhabi”.

He said Russian General Igor Kostiukov, the director of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, would lead Moscow's team at the tripartite security talks, and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev would meet separately to discuss economic issues with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's envoy.

But while outlining next steps, Ushakov did not hail any major progress.

“The most important thing is that during these discussions between our president and the Americans, it was reiterated that without resolving the territorial issue according to the formula agreed in Anchorage, there is no hope of reaching a long-term solution,” he said, referring to last year's Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

Although no agreement was reached when Trump met Putin in Alaska in August, the two leaders are understood to have discussed the possibility of Ukraine giving up territory in exchange for an end to the fighting.

Russia, “sincerely interested” in a diplomatic solution

Ushakov said Putin stressed that Russia was “sincerely interested” in a diplomatic solution.

But he added: “Until this is achieved, Russia will continue to consistently pursue the objectives of the special military operation. This is especially true on the battlefield, where the Russian armed forces hold the strategic initiative.”

Ukraine is going through its worst winter since the start of the war as Russia launches intense missile and drone attacks on its energy infrastructure. With temperatures well below freezing, hundreds of thousands of people in Kiev and other cities suffered long power outages and were left without heating.

Ukraine claims this as proof that Putin has no real interest in peace, which Moscow disputes. Kiev also says that Moscow's gradual advances on the front have come at a huge cost.

Who participated in the discussions

Putin, Ushakov and Dmitriev participated in the talks from the Russian side.

On the US side, Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who last met Putin in the Kremlin in early December, were joined by Josh Gruenbaum, recently appointed by Trump as a senior adviser to his Peace Council, which will try to resolve world conflicts.

The talks were the latest step in Trump's efforts to end Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II, now nearing the end of its fourth year.

Trump said on Wednesday that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be “fools” if they could not come to terms and reach a deal.

Witkoff was upbeat ahead of the Moscow talks, saying months of negotiations had boiled down to a single issue.

He did not specify what this was, but the issue of territory highlighted by Ushakov would not come as a surprise to many.

A major obstacle is Putin's demand that Ukraine cede 20 percent of the territory it still holds in the eastern Donetsk region. Zelenskiy refused to give up the territory that Ukraine successfully defended with great sacrifice after a long and exhausting war.

Russia also demands that Ukraine abandon its ambition to join NATO and rejects any presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil after a peace deal.

Zelensky, after meeting Trump in Switzerland on Thursday, said the terms of security guarantees for Ukraine had been finalized, but that the issue of the territory remained unresolved.

“The Americans have made considerable efforts”

Ushakov praised the Americans for holding Friday's security meeting with Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi.

“It must be recognized that the Americans have put considerable effort into its preparation and hope that this meeting will be a success and will open prospects for progress on the whole range of issues related to ending the conflict and reaching a peace agreement,” he said.

It is not whether Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet face to face. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the talks would last two days.

The agreement on the trilateral talks comes after Zelenskiy expressed his frustration with Ukraine's European allies and harshly criticized them in a heated speech in Davos.

In remarks that at times seemed reminiscent of Trump's attitude, he warned the continent of a never-ending “mole day” and accused countries of a lack of action.

“Last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words 'Europe must know how to defend itself' – a year has passed and nothing has changed,” he said.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, later hit back: “We have been supporting the heroic struggle of the Ukrainian people for four years. I think that, from our side, actions speak louder than words.”

She added: “We are the biggest supporter of Ukraine. In the last four years, we have given more than 193 billion euros, and the European Council has just decided to add to this amount another 90 billion euros for the next two years.”