Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the settlement in Ukraine with US President Donald Trump’s envoys during marathon overnight talks, and the Kremlin insisted that the territorial issue needs to be resolved to reach a peace deal.
The Kremlin meeting, which lasted past 3 a.m. Friday, came hours after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticized his European allies Thursday for what he cast as their slow and fragmented response to Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion that he said has left Ukraine at the mercy of Putin amid an ongoing US push for a peace settlement.
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who participated in Putin’s meeting with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, said "it was reaffirmed that reaching a long-term settlement can’t be expected without solving the territorial issue,” a reference to Moscow’s demand that Kyiv withdraws its troops from the areas in the east that Russia illegally annexed but never fully captured.
Zelenskyy said after meeting Thursday with Trump in Davos, Switzerland, that the future status of land in eastern Ukraine currently occupied by Russia is unresolved but that peace proposals are “nearly ready.”
On a positive note, Ushakov told reporters that it was agreed that Russian, Ukrainian and US officials will hold talks on security issues related to a prospective peace deal in the United Arab Emirates on Friday.
Ushakov noted that Trump’s envoys informed Putin about Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy, as well as earlier discussions they had with Ukrainian and European officials. The Kremlin talks that he described as “frank, constructive” and “fruitful” began when it was just before midnight in Moscow and lasted nearly four hours.
Witkoff and Kushner were joined by Josh Gruenbaum, the head of the Federal Acquisition Service who serves as a senior adviser on Trump’s Board of Peace that Russia has been invited to join. Russia is considering the invitation.
Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy met with Trump behind closed doors for about an hour at the World Economic Forum in Davos, describing the meeting as “productive and meaningful.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington from Davos, Trump said his meeting with Zelenskyy went well, adding that both Putin and Zelenskyy want to reach a deal and that “everyone’s making concessions” to try to end the war.
He said the sticking points in talks remain the same as they’ve been during talks held during the past six or seven months, noting “boundaries” was a key issue. “The main hold-up is the same things that’s been holding it up for the last year,” he said.
Russia’s bigger army has managed to capture about 20% of Ukraine since hostilities began in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of 2022. But the battlefield gains along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line have been costly for Moscow, and the Russian economy is feeling the consequences of the war and international sanctions.
Ukraine is short of money and, despite significantly boosting its own arms manufacturing, still needs Western weaponry. It is also short-handed on the front line. Its defense minister last week reported some 200,000 troop desertions, and draft-dodging by about 2 million Ukrainians.
Zelenskyy blasts European allies
Addressing the World Economic Forum after meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy listed a litany of grievances and criticisms of Europe.
European countries, which see their own future defense at stake in the war on its eastern flank, have provided financial, military and humanitarian support for Kyiv, but not all members of the 27-nation European Union are helping. Ukraine also has been frustrated by political disagreements within Europe over how to deal with Russia, as well as the bloc’s at times slow-moving responses.
“Europe looks lost,” Zelenskyy said in his speech, urging the continent to become a global force. He contrasted Europe’s response with Washington’s bold steps in Venezuela and Iran.
The former comic actor referred to the movie “Groundhog Day,” in which the main character must relive the same day over and over again.
“Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words: Europe needs to know how to defend itself. A year has passed. And nothing has changed. We are still in a situation where I must say the same words again,” Zelenskyy said.
He chided Europe for being slow to act on key decisions, spending too little on defense, failing to stop Russia’s "shadow fleet" of oil tankers that are breaking international sanctions, and balking at using its frozen assets in Europe to finance Ukraine, among other things.
Zelenskyy said two days of trilateral meetings involving the US, Ukraine and Russia are due to begin Friday in the United Arab Emirates.
“Russians have to be ready for compromises because, you know, everybody has to be ready, not only Ukraine, and this is important for us,” he said.
Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, confirmed that a Russian delegation will take part in Friday’s meeting. He added that during the Kremlin meeting the US voiced hope that it will “open prospects for advancing on the entire range of issues linked to ending the conflict and reaching a peaceful settlement.”
Ushakov said that the Russian delegation will be led by the chief of military intelligence, Adm. Igor Kostyukov.
