US, Ukraine and Russia Hold First Trilateral War Talks

Published: 23 January 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

For the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, delegations from the United States, Ukraine and Russia are meeting under the same diplomatic umbrella. The landmark trilateral talks, taking place in Abu Dhabi on Friday, mark a potentially significant moment in a war that has reshaped global geopolitics, destabilised energy markets and exacted a devastating human toll across Ukraine.

Confirmation of the meeting came in the early hours of Friday morning following high-level discussions at the Kremlin between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US president Donald Trump. According to Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov, the Moscow talks were “useful in every respect” and resulted in an agreement to convene the first meeting of a trilateral working group focused on security issues in the United Arab Emirates.

While full details of the Abu Dhabi agenda were not disclosed, the talks are expected to span two days, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It remains unclear whether Ukrainian and Russian officials will meet face to face or engage indirectly through US intermediaries, but the very fact that all three sides are present in the same location underscores the seriousness of the diplomatic effort now under way.

The US delegation is led by Witkoff and Kushner, who are scheduled to meet Russian representatives headed by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency. The choice of Abu Dhabi as the venue reflects the United Arab Emirates’ growing role as a discreet diplomatic broker, maintaining working relationships with Washington, Moscow and Kyiv while avoiding overt alignment in the conflict.

The talks come amid renewed pressure from Washington to explore a negotiated settlement. Since returning to office a year ago, Donald Trump has made ending the Ukraine war one of his foreign policy priorities, dispatching envoys to shuttle between Kyiv and Moscow in a fast-paced and sometimes controversial diplomatic push. Critics, particularly in Europe, have expressed concern that Ukraine could be pressured into an unfavourable deal, especially on issues of territory and long-term security guarantees.

Trump himself has adopted a blunt tone. Speaking earlier this week, he said both Putin and Zelenskyy would be “stupid” not to come together and strike an agreement. Yet despite such rhetoric, the obstacles to peace remain formidable and deeply entrenched.

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Witkoff acknowledged that one major issue remained unresolved in the negotiations, though he declined to specify what it was. Zelenskyy, for his part, indicated that the future status of territory currently occupied by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine remains the most sensitive and difficult question, even as he said peace proposals were “nearly ready”.

Territory has been at the heart of the conflict since its earliest days. Russia currently occupies large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, including most of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Moscow has demanded that Kyiv surrender the roughly 20% of the Donetsk region that remains under Ukrainian control. Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected any proposal that would legitimise Russia’s territorial gains, arguing that Ukraine cannot cede land that its forces have defended at enormous human and material cost.

Beyond territory, Russia has also insisted that Ukraine formally renounce its ambition to join Nato and has ruled out any postwar presence of Nato troops on Ukrainian soil. For Kyiv, these demands strike at the core of its sovereignty and long-term security. Zelenskyy has argued that without credible security guarantees, any peace agreement would risk becoming a temporary pause before renewed aggression.

Speaking from Davos, Zelenskyy stressed that compromise would have to be mutual. He said Russians “have to be ready for compromises” just as Ukrainians have been asked to consider difficult concessions. He also revealed that postwar security guarantees between Washington and Kyiv had been drafted and were ready to be implemented if a deal were reached, though they would still require ratification by the relevant authorities in both countries.

Zelenskyy’s remarks followed a closed-door meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the Davos forum. In public, the Ukrainian president struck a notably sharp tone towards Europe, accusing European leaders of complacency and excessive reliance on US leadership. In a blistering speech, he warned that Europe was operating in “Greenland mode”, waiting passively for Washington to act instead of taking responsibility for its own security and for Ukraine’s defence.

“Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words ‘Europe needs to know how to defend itself’,” Zelenskyy said. “A year has passed, and nothing has changed.” His comments reflected growing frustration in Kyiv over what Ukrainian officials see as wavering European resolve, even as the war grinds on into its fourth year.

Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington, described his meeting with Zelenskyy as positive but tempered his optimism with characteristic scepticism. He said the Ukrainian president had expressed a desire to make a deal to end the war, but added that previous promising discussions had failed to produce results.

“I had a good meeting, but I’ve had numerous good meetings with President Zelenskyy and it doesn’t seem to happen,” Trump said. He nonetheless insisted that both Zelenskyy and Putin wanted to reach an agreement and that “everyone’s making concessions” in pursuit of peace.

According to Trump, the core sticking points have remained unchanged for months, with boundaries and territorial lines continuing to block progress. “The main hold-up is the same things that’s been holding it up for the last year,” he said, highlighting how deeply entrenched the dispute remains despite intensified diplomacy.

Humanitarian concerns also featured prominently in Trump’s comments. He said he and Zelenskyy discussed how Ukrainians were coping with the harsh winter amid relentless Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure. “It’s really tough for the people of Ukraine,” Trump said, expressing admiration for the resilience of residents who have endured power cuts, heating shortages and missile strikes through the coldest months of the year.

Ukraine is currently facing one of its most difficult winters since the invasion began. Russian strikes on energy facilities have left large parts of Kyiv and other major cities struggling with intermittent electricity and heating, compounding the hardships faced by millions of civilians. International aid has helped mitigate the worst effects, but humanitarian agencies warn that prolonged infrastructure damage could have lasting consequences.

Against this backdrop, the Abu Dhabi talks carry both hope and heavy expectations. Diplomats caution that a single meeting, or even several rounds of talks, is unlikely to produce an immediate breakthrough. However, the establishment of a trilateral working group on security issues is seen as a meaningful step toward structured negotiations, rather than ad hoc shuttle diplomacy.

For Ukraine, the challenge lies in balancing the urgent desire for peace with the need to safeguard sovereignty and prevent future aggression. For Russia, the talks offer a chance to shape an outcome that secures its strategic interests while easing international isolation. For the United States, the stakes include not only ending a brutal war but also restoring stability to a global order shaken by the conflict.

As delegations convene in Abu Dhabi, the world will be watching closely. Whether these talks mark the beginning of a genuine path toward peace or simply another chapter in a protracted diplomatic struggle remains uncertain. What is clear is that, nearly four years after the war began, the cost of continued fighting has made the search for a negotiated settlement more urgent than ever.