Trilateral Russia-U.S.-Ukraine talks kick off in UAE amid Witkoff's Moscow visit
Kremlin 'sincerely desires' to end the war thru diplomatic means, yet says the territorial issue must be resolved according to the understandings previously reached in Alaska between Trump and Putin
A trilateral security working group comprising Russian, U.S., and Ukrainian officials began on Friday its first session in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Russian delegation includes representatives of the Ministry of Defense, according to Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy assistant to President Vladimir Putin.
Ushakov told the media that Putin met with U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin on Thursday, where the two had "constructive and candid" talks focusing on ending the war in Ukraine that began with Russia 2022 invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Friday that territorial issues would also be on the table in the UAE talks.
It was not clear whether the sessions would include direct meetings between Russians and Ukrainians.
The U.S. delegation in addition to Witkoff included U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House staff member Josh Gruenbaum, while Ushakov and Russian presidential special envoy Kirill Dmitriev were among the Russian officials in attendance.
The U.S. delegation briefed its counterparts on the meeting at Davos between Trump and Zelensky.
Ushakov expressed Russia's "sincere desire" to end the war through political and diplomatic means, emphasizing that the territorial issue should be resolved according to the "consensus" previously reached by the Russian and U.S. sides in Anchorage, widely seen as consonant with the Kremlin position on the issue.
"Until this is achieved, Russia will continue to consistently pursue the objectives of the special military operation," he said.
Ushakov said the Russian and U.S. sides also discussed the future prospects of bilateral relations.