Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine. Photo: Profimedia
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine is waiting for more information from the United States on future peace talks and that new meetings are expected to take place next week, Reuters reports.
“We are in constant contact with the American side and we are waiting for concrete details from them regarding the future meetings,” Zelenski said in the evening video speech, according to News.ro. “We are counting on next week's meetings and are preparing for them. It is important that these meetings take place and that they lead to concrete results. Ukraine is ready to work in all formats of negotiations,” the Ukrainian head of state emphasized.
Zelensky's statement seems to suggest that the meeting scheduled for Sunday in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, between the representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the United States will no longer take place.
Zelensky wants Ukrainian and Russian negotiators to meet sooner. “Ukraine will be as prepared as possible”
On January 23 and 24, a first round of negotiations took place in Abu Dhabi in the presence of the Ukrainian, Russian and American delegations. These were the first known direct negotiations between Kiev, Moscow and Washington on the American plan intended to end the war, reports the France Presse and Agerpres agencies.
In the following days, the parties agreed to continue the talks on February 1.
But Zelenskiy said on Thursday that the “date and place” of this meeting could change because of the current “situation” between Iran and the US.
After brutally repressed protests in early January in Iran, US President Donald Trump increased his threats of attacks against Iran and has since been pressuring Tehran to accept a deal on its nuclear program.
Regarding the meeting on Ukraine announced in Abu Dhabi, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had stated during the week that an American delegation could go there, but without a clear confirmation.
In parallel, the emissary of the Kremlin for economic issues, Kirill Dmitriev, met on Saturday in Florida with the American special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, and the son-in-law of the American president, Jared Kushner.
Both parties surprisingly announced that the meeting was “constructive”, without elaborating on the content of the discussions.
