Ukraine, US, Russia to meet in UAE next week for new round of peace talks, Zelensky says
Editor's note: The story was updated with the latest details.
Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia are set to meet in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4-5 for a new round of talks as part of ongoing efforts to negotiate a peace deal, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 1.
Zelensky's statement came amid uncertainty over whether the talks initially scheduled for Feb. 1 would go ahead and whether they would be held bilaterally between Moscow and Kyiv or in a trilateral format with Washington.
"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," Ukraine's president said.
The Kremlin also confirmed it expects the next round of talks with Ukraine to take place in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4-5.
On Jan. 31, Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev met with U.S. officials, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, in Miami.
The previous two-day talks between Kyiv, Washington, and Moscow concluded in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 24.
Zelensky later said in his evening address that he would meet with the Ukrainian team on Feb. 2 to prepare for the talks and agree on a framework for the discussions. He also said he expects an intense month of diplomacy, with the U.S. team working actively to decrease the number of attacks.
"We expect that the American side will be just as active, particularly with regard to de-escalation measures — reducing strikes — and much depends on what the American side manages to achieve," he said.
The Ukrainian people's trust in the peace process depends, in part, on the effectiveness of reducing the scale of attacks, he said.
The talks are expected to focucs on a potential energy ceasefire and control over Ukraine's Donbas region. Russia has long demanded that Ukraine cede the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, including unoccupied territory, as a precondition of any peace agreement.
As Russian attacks pushed Ukraine's energy system into a crisis, U.S. President Trump on Jan. 29 announced that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop bombarding Ukrainian cities for a week. Moscow said the next day that the pause applies only to Kyiv and would last until Feb. 1.
In recent days, Russia has continued its attacks on the civilian infrastructure across other Ukrainian cities, resulting in casualties.
