Ukrainian, US and Russian officials will meet in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the Kremlin said, following “useful” talks between President Vladimir Putin and US mediator Steve Witkoff in Moscow.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine have accelerated in recent months, although Moscow and Kiev remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.
American negotiators, led by mediator Steve Witkoff, spoke with the Russian leader in Moscow until the early hours of Friday morning, the Kremlin said.
Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuriy Ushakov told reporters that their talks were “useful in every way.”
Witkoff and the US team will then travel to Abu Dhabi, where talks are expected to continue. A Russian delegation, headed by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU, will also travel there “in the coming hours,” Ushakov said.
– It was agreed that the first meeting of the trilateral working group on security issues will be held today in Abu Dhabi – added Ušakov.
Further details of the talks in the United Arab Emirates have not been released, and it is not clear whether Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet face-to-face.
– We are sincerely interested in solving (the conflict) by political and diplomatic means. Until that happens, Russia will continue to achieve its goals on the battlefield – Ushakov told reporters.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the draft agreement is “almost, almost ready” and that he and Trump have agreed on the issue of post-war security guarantees, reports AFP.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
