The countries concluded their first three-way meeting in Abu Dhabi on Saturday
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks at an event in Hollywood, Florida on January 15, 2026. © Noam Galai / Getty Images
[RT] US
President Donald Trump’s top negotiator Steve Witkoff has praised the
first Russia-US-Ukraine meeting in Abu Dhabi, saying the sides have
agreed to resume negotiations next week.
The two-day meeting in
the Emirati capital, which concluded on Saturday, marked the first time
negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, and the US sat together since the
conflict between Moscow and Kiev erupted in February 2022. However, the
parties have remained largely tight-lipped about the outcome of the
discussions.
In a post on X on Saturday, Witkoff, who led the
American delegation alongside Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, said the
talks were “very constructive” and that plans were made to
continue discussions next week in Abu Dhabi. He added that Trump was
committed to negotiating a peace deal.
The talks in Abu Dhabi took place shortly after Witkoff and Kushner
met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, while Trump
spoke with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the
World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
All three parties have
acknowledged that territorial disputes remain the main obstacle to a
peace settlement. Moscow maintains that a sustainable deal is only
possible if Ukraine withdraws its troops from the regions of Donetsk,
Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye, which voted to join Russia in 2022, and
formally recognizes its neighbor’s new borders, including Crimea.
Zelensky has ruled out any territorial concessions.
Putin’s top
aide Yury Ushakov, who attended the Abu Dhabi talks, told reporters
before the meeting that Russia had the battlefield initiative and would
achieve its objectives militarily unless a diplomatic solution is found.