A three-way meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the United States will take place in Abu Dhabi on Friday and Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday.
The summit would represent the first time the three countries have sat down together since Moscow launched its all-out attack on Ukraine almost four years ago. Zelenskyy, however, did not give specifics on who would be attending from each country.
“It will be the first trilateral meeting in the United Arab Emirates,” Zelenskyy said. “I hope Emirates know about it. Sometimes we have such surprises from the American side.” The Ukrainian leader added that he and his team had “spent a lot of time” with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Russians have to be ready for compromises — everybody has to be ready, not only Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said at a Q&A session following his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We will see what the result will be,” he added. “It’s better than to not have any kind of dialogue.”
After meeting Trump in Davos on Thursday, “in the interest of my country,” Zelenskyy reported that “The meeting was good thanks to President [Trump].” The U.S. leader also described the contact as “good” and said “the war has to end.”
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow later on Thursday to discuss a peace deal that would end the bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine. They will then fly directly to the UAE, where the meetings will continue in “military-to-military” working groups, Witkoff said.
While Witkoff suggested a deal was close, the Kremlin declined to comment.
POLITICO contacted the U.S. embassy in Brussels for confirmation of the trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi, but did not immediately receive a response.