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The U.S. is set to hold a trilateral peace negotiation with officials from Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Wednesday and Thursday.
Throughout 2025 Washington hosted events where it played the middleman between Moscow and Kiev, although any progress made during those meetings quickly vanished with European aid money to Ukraine.
In May the White House announced it wanted direct meetings between Moscow and Kiev, threatened to leave the negotiating table, but later began mediating the talks again. In June the two warring nations did manage bilateral meetings in Turkey, but those negotiations failed to bring about peace.
U.S. efforts climaxed in November when a Washington-drafted 28-point peace plan was attempted, but Ukraine refused the offer.
According to Remix News, this week’s talks will center around a “U.S.-drafted plan” that seeks to bridge the gap of disagreements between Moscow and Kiev.
Zelensky attempted to float his 20-point plan with President Donald Trump in late December, but the Dictator’s plan failed to solve key territorial disputes. In January Trump said that Zelensky was the one stalling peace plan progress.
“The biggest obstacle to the negotiations remains the territorial issue. Russia currently occupies around 20% of Ukraine’s territory and is demanding full control of the eastern Donetsk region as part of any potential deal. Kyiv argues that territorial concessions would embolden Moscow and many Ukrainians consider it unacceptable to surrender land that has been defended for years,” Remix News said.
One of Zelensky’s major political allies, Vitaly Kim, urged the Dictator to choose people over land during an interview with The Independent on Monday.
“The land is important, but still, people are more important and the situation is that we do not know what will be tomorrow,” Kim said. “So for the Ukrainian people, I think the victory is just stopping the war and some guarantees of security for the future, for our children to have the life that we had before the invasion … I think for the majority of our people, the victory is to have their life like it was before the invasion. And it is very important for us because a lot of time has passed.”
On Monday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Russia’s participation in the negotiations.
“Indeed, Wednesday-Thursday, this second round will take place. In Abu Dhabi, this, too, we can confirm,” Peskov said.
Peskov also said that Zelensky is welcome to travel to Moscow to meet in-person with Putin.
“Zelensky offers contacts. Putin said that they are possible in Moscow. This position remains ours. It is sufficiently consistent,” Peskov said. “We retain our openness to negotiations. You see that work is being done through working groups. We welcome this, and we are ready to continue this work in the interests of resolving the situation in Ukraine.”
Zelensky confirmed Ukraine’s participation in the upcoming Abu Dhabi negotiations on Sunday.
Our negotiating team has just delivered a report. The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set – February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi. Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war. Thank you to everyone who is helping!
While Moscow often remains quiet as to its preparation for peace negotiations, Zelensky generally details the steps Kiev takes prior to these meetings.
I met with our negotiating team ahead of the new round of trilateral talks. We expect the meetings to take place in the coming days, as early as this Wednesday and Thursday.
Nearly all members of the negotiating team attended today’s meeting, namely Rustem Umerov, Kyrylo Budanov, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Andrii Hnatov, and Oleksandr Bevz. Davyd Arakhamiia will also participate in the negotiations. I approved frameworks for the talks and set specific tasks.
The Ukrainian delegation will also hold bilateral meetings with the American side. Ukraine is ready for real steps. We believe it is realistic to achieve a dignified and lasting peace. We consider the bilateral security guarantees document with the United States to be complete, and we anticipate further substantive work on documents related to recovery and economic development.
We also anticipate that the American side will remain decisive in ensuring the necessary conditions for dialogue. The de-escalation measures that went into effect on the night of last Thursday to Friday are helping to build public trust in the negotiation process and its possible outcome. The war needs to be ended. Thank you to everyone around the world who is helping. Glory to Ukraine!
On Sunday the Dictator uploaded a video where he stated his wish for Washington to reduce Russian strikes on his country.
There is an arrangement to hold a trilateral meeting at an appropriate level in the Emirates next week. February will be a period of quite intense foreign policy activity.
We expect the American side to be just as active, particularly when it comes to de-escalation measures – reducing strikes. Much depends on what the U.S. can achieve so that people trust both the process and the outcomes.
Today’s Russian drone strike on an ordinary bus carrying miners in the Dnipro region is a telling crime that yet again shows that Russia bears responsibility for the escalation. Evil must be stopped.
On Monday Trump applied additional economic pressure on Moscow by negotiating India into ceasing its Russian oil purchases and replacing them with U.S. oil purchases.
Embed from Getty ImagesImage credit: KRAKOW, POLAND JANUARY 29:A mural titled ‘Divided by Oligarchy’ by anonymous Norwegian street artist Toddel, depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin seated at a table next to a map of a divided Ukraine, is seen on a wall in Krakow, Poland, , on January 29, 2026. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
