ABU DHABI: Russia said it was not dropping its key demand that Ukraine pull out of its eastern Donbas region, ahead of three-way talks between Ukrainian, Russian and American officials in the UAE later on Friday (Jan 23).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said territory remained the key issue and would be on the agenda for the talks, which look set to be the first direct public negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv on a plan being pushed by US President Donald Trump to end the almost four-year-long war.
High-level teams from the three countries were headed for Abu Dhabi for the negotiations – a day after US President Donald Trump met with Zelenskyy in Davos and hours after US envoy Steve Witkoff held late-night talks with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
While a diplomatic push to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II has gained pace in recent weeks, Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.
Russia, which launched its invasion in 2022, said on Friday it was not dropping its maximalist demand that Kyiv withdraw from the eastern Donbas region – a term deemed unacceptable to Ukraine.
“Russia’s position is well known on the fact that Ukraine, Ukrainian armed forces, have to leave the territory of the Donbas. They must be withdrawn from there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“This is a very important condition,” he added.
Both sides say the fate of territory in Ukraine’s east is one of the main outstanding issues in the search for a settlement to a war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and decimated eastern Ukraine.
“The Donbas is a key issue,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday, ahead of the talks.
“God willing (the talks will lead) to ending the war,” he added, before cautioning: “It could go differently, but it’s a step.”
The Ukrainian delegation is made up of Zelenskyy’s new chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, security chief Rustem Umerov, negotiator David Arakhamia and ground army chief Andriy Gnatov.
The Kremlin’s delegation will be headed by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency. It added on Friday that it was sending an all-military delegation and that “we will not give their names for now”.
Witkoff is leading the US side, with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also due to take part in the talks.
The Ukrainian leader said he expects to hold a call with his teams “around 3-4pm” (9-10pm, Singapore time) ahead of the meeting.