MOSCOW: Ukrainian, US and Russian officials will hold security talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the Kremlin said, following a meeting of top US negotiators with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on a US-drafted plan to end the Ukraine war.<\/p>\n
Diplomatic efforts to end Europe\u2019s deadliest conflict since World War II have gained pace in recent months, though Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.<\/p>\n
US negotiators, led by envoy Steve Witkoff, talked with the Russian leader in Moscow into the early hours of Friday, according to a Kremlin statement.<\/p>\n
Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters their discussions had been \u201cuseful in every respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Witkoff and the US team are next flying to Abu Dhabi, where talks are expected to continue.<\/p>\n
A Russian delegation, headed by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia\u2019s GRU military intelligence agency, will also head there \u201cin the coming hours,\u201d according to Ushakov.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was agreed that the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security issues will take place today in Abu Dhabi,\u201d Ushakov added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are genuinely interested in resolving (the conflict) through political and diplomatic means,\u201d he said, but added: \u201cUntil that happens, Russia will continue to achieve its objectives… on the battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n
Witkoff previously said he believed the two sides were \u201cdown to one issue,\u201d without elaborating.<\/p>\n
Video published by the Kremlin showed a smiling Putin shaking hands with Witkoff, US President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum.<\/p>\n
The high-stakes meeting came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a draft deal was \u201cnearly, nearly ready\u201d and that he and Trump had agreed on the issue of post-war security guarantees.<\/p>\n
He also said the UK and France had already committed to forces on the ground.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said Ukraine\u2019s delegation at the UAE meeting would be led by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, and would include Lt. Gen. Andriy Gnatov, the chief of staff of Ukrainian armed forces.<\/p>\n
Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of the country\u2019s eastern Donbas region as part of a deal.<\/p>\n
But Kyiv has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and says it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter Russia from launching a renewed assault.<\/p>\n
– Europe \u2018fragmented\u2019 –<\/p>\n
The full details of the upcoming talks in the United Arab Emirates have not been released, and it is not clear whether the Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet face-to-face.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said these talks would last two days.<\/p>\n
Trump repeated on Wednesday his oft-stated belief that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe they\u2019re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don\u2019t, they\u2019re stupid \u2014 that goes for both of them,\u201d he said after delivering a speech at Davos.<\/p>\n
Zelensky, at his address in Davos, blasted the EU\u2019s lack of \u201cpolitical will\u201d in countering Putin in a fiery address.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of becoming a truly global power, Europe remains a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s dramatic foreign policy pivots including a recent bid to take over Greenland \u2014 an autonomous Danish territory \u2014 have stirred worries in Europe about whether Washington can be trusted as a reliable security partner.<\/p>\n
In his speech, Zelensky criticized Europe for pinning hopes on the United States defending them in case of aggression.<\/p>\n
\u201cEurope looks lost trying to convince the US President to change,\u201d Zelensky said.<\/p>\n
Russian strikes this week have left most of Kyiv without electricity, with residents of 4,000 buildings without heat in sub-zero temperatures.<\/p>\n
Russia, which launched its Ukraine offensive in February 2022, says its strikes are aimed at energy infrastructure fueling Ukraine\u2019s \u201cmilitary-industrial complex.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyiv says the strikes are a war crime designed to wear down its civilian population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MOSCOW: Ukrainian, US and Russian officials will hold security talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the Kremlin said, following a meeting of top US negotiators with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on a US-drafted plan to end the Ukraine war. Diplomatic efforts to end Europe\u2019s deadliest conflict since World War II have gained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-527222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n