Trilateral talks at a technical level between Russia, Ukraine and the United States will be held in the United Arab Emirates, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced. According to him, the talks will begin on Friday and will last two days. The information was disseminated by the BBC.
The statement comes after a series of meetings on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, as well as before the end of the visit of US President Donald Trump's special envoy - Steve Witkoff - to Moscow.
"This is better than no dialogue at all", Zelensky commented, emphasizing that the meetings will not be at the political level, but will focus on expert and technical issues.
Earlier, Witkoff himself confirmed that after his visit to Moscow, the American delegation plans a trip to Abu Dhabi. According to him, in the UAE, the main topic will be the economic future of Ukraine, including the country's reconstruction and possible international support mechanisms.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, answering questions from journalists in Davos, named the members of the delegation that will travel to Abu Dhabi for negotiations with Russia and the United States, scheduled for Friday and Saturday. He said that the delegation will include five people: Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, Head of the Presidential Administration Kirill Budanov, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Kislytsa, Leader of the "Servant of the People" faction in the Rada David Arakhamia, and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Gnatov.
"The American team will travel to Moscow today. They were looking forward to our meeting with President Trump, and now they will go, and my team will meet with the American team. I believe that this will be the first trilateral meeting in the Emirates. It will probably be held tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and will last two days," Zelensky added (quoted by Interfax-Ukraine).
This composition of the Ukrainian delegation categorically refutes the thesis that the meeting in Abu Dhabi is "technical". On the contrary, this is a top-level political-military team that clearly shows that Ukraine is entering a serious phase of negotiations, and with full awareness of the stakes.
- Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, who unites the military and strategic logic of the state;
- Head of the Presidential Administration Kirill Budanov, a figure associated with intelligence and the most sensitive operations;
- First Deputy Head of the Administration Serhiy Kislitsa, a long-time diplomat and experienced negotiator;
- Leader of the parliamentary faction "Servant of the People" David Arakhamia, which means direct involvement of the legislative branch and preparation for possible political decisions;
- Chief of the General Staff Andriy Gnatov, whose appearance explicitly indicates that military parameters are on the table.
In a conversation with reporters in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky outlined his vision for the current state of the peace talks, conducted with the mediation of the United States. He said the document on US security guarantees for Ukraine was fully prepared, but no agreements on territorial control had yet been reached.
According to Zelensky, the trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi, scheduled for Friday, would allow for the discussion of options for resolving this issue, which, he noted, would require compromise from both Ukraine and Russia.
"We are discussing one issue, the most complex unresolved issue, and I think the trilateral meetings will reveal every option," Reuters quoted Zelensky, speaking in English.
He did not specify the specific nature of each option. Russia has previously repeatedly demanded that Ukraine cede the part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that remains under its control.
The last time direct dialogue between Moscow and Kiev actually yielded results was in the summer, when bilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine were held in Istanbul with the mediation of Turkey.
The talks then, also conducted at a technical and expert level, led to the largest exchange of prisoners of war since the beginning of the war. As part of the agreement, hundreds of servicemen from both sides were returned home, which was assessed as a rare but concrete result against the backdrop of the frozen political dialogue.
The Istanbul meetings showed that even in the absence of progress on the main political and military issues, negotiations limited in scope can reach practical agreements on humanitarian issues. It is this experience that is often cited by diplomats as an argument that technical contacts are not pointless, even when the strategic positions of the parties remain irreconcilable.
Here it is necessary to recall another important precedent from this year. In March, within the framework of bilateral contacts between Russia and Ukraine in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, a so-called energy truce was reached - an informal but workable agreement to refrain from attacks on key energy infrastructure by both sides.
Although the agreement was not declared a full-fledged agreement and there were individual violations, it led to a noticeable decrease in attacks on power plants, substations and gas infrastructure for a month. This was particularly important at the end of the winter season and showed that limited sectoral agreements are possible when the interests of the two sides intersect.
It is the combination of the energy truce in March and the exchange of prisoners of war following the talks in Istanbul in the summer that diplomats often point to as evidence that technical and thematically limited negotiations can yield results, even in the absence of a political breakthrough.