President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says officials from Ukraine, Russia and the United States will hold trilateral meetings for the first time on Friday and Saturday, as the US continues to push for an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
After talks with US President Donald Trump in Davos on Thursday, Zelenskyy said the terms of security guarantees for Ukraine had been finalised, and a deal was almost ready on economic recovery after the war, a key element of Kyiv-backed proposals to push back on an earlier US plan seen as heavily favouring Moscow.
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The US president described the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart as “good”, but called the effort to end the war launched by Russia an “ongoing process”.
Russia’s TASS news agency confirmed the meeting would take place after talks between US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin.
According to TASS, the meeting included Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov and Special Presidential Envoy Kirill Dmitriev on the Russian side.
Josh Gruenbaum, a senior White House adviser, joined the talks with Putin for the first time, after previously taking part in lower-level Russia-US consultations in Miami, Florida, TASS reported.
Putin received the US delegation at the Kremlin’s Senate Palace. Ushakov described the talks as “extremely substantive and constructive”, adding: “I would describe it as utterly frank and based on trust.”
Zelenskyy rejects Russia’s proposal on frozen assets
This comes as discussions over how Ukraine would be rebuilt after the war continue, alongside diplomatic efforts to end the fighting, with billions of dollars in Russian state assets frozen in Europe since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Speaking to journalists in a WhatsApp media chat on Friday, Zelenskyy dismissed a Russian proposal to use the frozen funds for reconstruction on Russian territory, including the Kursk region, calling the idea “nonsense”.
He said Ukraine would “fight” to ensure all frozen Russian assets are instead directed towards rebuilding Ukraine, adding that Kyiv would push to secure access to the full amount of the funds.
Zelenskyy said European partners would receive feedback after the upcoming trilateral talks with Russia and the US, which are set to take place in Abu Dhabi.
He added that Ukrainian officials would hold internal discussions later on Friday to finalise their approach to the talks, with representatives from Ukraine’s military intelligence also expected to be present.
Zelenskyy said he had discussed economic incentives with US President Donald Trump, including the creation of a “free economic zone”, as well as the possible supply of additional air defence systems such as PAC-3 anti-ballistic missiles.
He also stressed the importance of clarity over how any post-war recovery package would be financed.
Zelenskyy said the question of territory would be discussed during the Abu Dhabi meeting and added that he was waiting for Trump to confirm a date and location to sign a deal on security guarantees for Ukraine.
Trump, Zelenskyy meet in Davos
The meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump in Davos came amid intensified US-led efforts to broker an end to the war.
Speaking after the talks, Trump said his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin was that the war in Ukraine had to end.
Zelenskyy, for his part, described the meeting with Trump as “productive and substantive”.
“The documents are now even better prepared,” added Zelenskyy, who previously said he would only travel to Davos if there were the opportunity to sign an agreement with Trump on resolving the nearly four-year war, including with security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding for Ukraine.
Addressing the World Economic Forum after his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy made the case for Putin to face international prosecution and criticised European allies for failing to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s defence.
“This is the fourth year of the biggest war in Europe since World War II, and the man who started it is not only free, but he is fighting for his frozen money in Europe,” said Zelenskyy.
Sticking points
Zelenskyy said in December that the two main issues were the long-term fate of territory captured by Russia and areas still under Kyiv’s control that Moscow is demanding, and who gets control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian occupation in southern Ukraine.
Trump made an oft-repeated claim on Wednesday that Putin and Zelenskyy were close to a deal. “I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid – that goes for both of them,” he said, after delivering a speech to the annual meeting of global elites.
The US has held talks separately with Russia, Ukraine and European leaders on various drafts of a plan for ending the war, but no deal has yet been reached, despite Trump’s repeated promises to clinch one.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Trump’s efforts to end the war but said Ukraine still needs military help as it continues to come under Russian missile and drone attacks.
“What we need is to keep our eyes on the ball of Ukraine. Let’s not drop that ball. And that means, yes, great, peace talks. Fantastic. We will do everything to conclude them successfully, but that will not happen tomorrow,” he said.
The talks come as Russian attacks this week have left most of the Ukrainian capital without electricity, with residents of nearly 3,000 buildings in Kyiv without heat in sub-zero temperatures.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said a Russian overnight drone attack struck a residential building, killing a 17-year-old.