Russia: "Peace Talks with U.S., Ukraine to Be Held in UAE Next Month"... Donbas Division Key

Signs point to peace talks resuming after eight months
Ukraine and Russia clash over the division of Donbas

U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff (left) shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the 21st (local time). TASS-Yonhap News

Russia will hold trilateral peace talks with the United States and Ukraine next month. Peace negotiations, which were suspended after the Iran war broke out, are expected to resume for the first time in eight months. However, an early agreement is considered unlikely as differences persist over key issues, including the division of Ukrainian territory and security.

According to TASS on the 21st (local time), Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy aide to the Kremlin, said at a press conference that day, "Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to the U.S. proposal to hold trilateral peace talks," adding, "Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is being considered as the venue." He continued, "The main agenda for the talks will be establishing a security framework for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends," adding, "However, the specific schedule and the composition of the delegations have not yet been finalized, and President Putin will decide on them later."

President Putin met with U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff that day at Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, for a three-hour meeting. Ahead of the meeting, the Russian government released Steven Hubbard, an American who had been detained in Russia for four years on suspicion of serving as a mercenary in Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump immediately welcomed the development. According to The New York Times (NYT), Trump said at a press conference at the White House that day, "We are discussing with President Putin how to resolve the war in Ukraine," adding, "We are getting closer and closer to ending the war, and perhaps this is the closest we have ever been."

However, an early agreement is considered unlikely, as Ukraine and Russia have held firm to their respective positions on territorial divisions and security. In an interview with U.S. network Fox News that day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, "The war should be frozen along the current front line, and the peace agreement must include security guarantees from partner countries, including the United States and European allies." He added, "The territorial concessions Russia is demanding in the Donbas region are unfair. If we hand over all of Donbas, there will be no defensive line at all before Kyiv."

CNN noted, "Russia has given no indication that it is willing to make any concessions from its existing hard-line position, nor is there any sign that it will do so." It added, "Russia still wants a complete victory, including the full occupation of the Donbas region and a reduction in Ukraine's military."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.