Make peace: Russia and the United States are discussing the issue of territories together with Kiev for the first time

Negotiations between Russia, the United States and Ukraine on resolving the crisis are taking place in Abu Dhabi. The delegations met on January 23 and will continue contacts on the 24th. The key topics are the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Donbass, as well as the plan for the restoration of Ukraine. For Moscow, both the territorial issue and the protection of the Russian-speaking population of Donbass, as well as the rights of the UOC, are important. The Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia that the Russian Federation will continue to raise the issue of discrimination against the canonical Orthodox Church in contacts with American partners. The expert community believes that these issues will gradually come to the fore as the working groups progress and the Russian armed forces in Ukraine advance.

Working group meeting in Abu Dhabi

Following Vladimir Putin's talks with Steve Witkoff in Moscow and Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Zelensky in Davos, the parties began working in special groups on the economy, which includes Russia and the United States, and security, where, in addition to representatives from Moscow and Washington, delegates from Kiev participate.

Kirill Dmitriev, the President's special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, flew to Abu Dhabi from the Russian Federation, as well as the military, led by Igor Kostyukov, Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, who, by the way, participated in negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement in 2025 in Istanbul. The American negotiating team included Special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, White House Senior adviser Josh Grunbaum and Commander of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe Alexus Grinkevich.

Igor Kostyukov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, during a statement by the Russian delegation following the talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul

Photo: RIA Novosti/Ramil Sitdikov

Ukraine is represented at the trilateral talks by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, head of the Presidential Office Kirill Budanov (recognized in the Russian Federation as a terrorist and extremist), First Deputy head of the office Sergey Kislitsa, head of the Servant of the People party faction David Arakhamia and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Andrei Gnatov.

Close discussion: Russia and the United States "for two" have identified further steps in Ukraine

How did Putin's negotiations with American emissaries end?

The choice of the UAE as the venue for negotiations on the settlement of Europe's largest conflict is not surprising. Last year, Vladimir Putin named the Emirates as one of the suitable places to meet with his American counterpart Donald Trump to discuss Ukraine. Although the negotiations took place in Alaska rather than in the UAE, Abu Dhabi has the necessary experience and infrastructure for such meetings.

Discussions are expected to continue on January 24. The first rounds of negotiations between the United States, Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi will be held in the most closed mode, the presence of the press is not provided. The Kremlin stressed that serious attention is being paid to the territorial issue of the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass. "Russia's position that the Ukrainian armed forces should leave the territory of Donbass is well known. This is a very important condition," said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also called the territorial issue a key topic.

Photo: Global Look Press/Soeren Stache

The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera believes that the meeting in Abu Dhabi will discuss Ukraine's renunciation of part of the territories in exchange for financial support in the amount of $ 800 billion. According to the publication, four documents will be presented at the talks, which may form the basis of a peace treaty. Politico notes that the recovery plan promoted by the United States and the EU is designed for 10 years, as well as an accelerated path to EU membership for Ukraine during this period. The financing strategy is designed until 2040 and includes an operational plan for 100 days to launch the project.

The meeting of the two working groups in Abu Dhabi can be considered evidence of progress in the Ukrainian settlement, says Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club.

— I can remind you that last summer Russia proposed switching to a format of interaction within the framework of working groups. Then, unfortunately, the Ukrainian side did not accept this proposal. But now it seems that the situation is changing, perhaps under pressure from the United States," he told Izvestia.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov

However, no significant breakthrough can be expected yet, since the delegates are likely to mainly discuss technical issues, Andrei Kortunov believes.

"Nevertheless, the very fact that such a dialogue on military issues has finally taken place (probably for the first time since the talks in Istanbul almost four years ago) is a positive signal, and we must admit that a step forward has been made," the analyst noted.

Protection of the rights of Russian speakers and the UOC

Moscow has repeatedly stated that it intends to achieve its goals (protecting the residents of Donbass), and to do so either through political, diplomatic, or armed means. Andrei Kortunov believes that as the Russian armed forces continue to advance, the territorial issue will fade into the background and other topics such as securing Ukraine's neutral status, restrictions on the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and others will become important. Among the key issues is the protection of the status of the Russian language and the restoration of the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia that Moscow intends to continue to raise the issue of combating the UOC in contacts with the United States on Ukraine.

"The need to end the persecution of the UOC, including the repeal of the law on the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations adopted in August 2024, which provides for the creation of a legal mechanism to ban the canonical church, along with the elimination of violations of the rights of the Russian and Russian—speaking population, is one of the key conditions for achieving a sustainable settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," the ministry said. department.

Photo: TASS/Natacha Pisarenko

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly told his American counterpart Donald Trump about this, including at their meeting in Anchorage, emphasizing the impossibility of resolving the conflict without eradicating its root causes, the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled. By the way, the issue of violations of the rights of Orthodox believers has recently been raised by Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, and judging by the responses in the media, US Vice President Jay Dee Vance is outraged by Kiev's persecution.

The interrupted process: how the escalation of the conflict changes the prospects for a settlement

What is Kiev trying to achieve with provocations against Russia

Russia will also raise the issue of Ukraine's denazification more often, Andrei Kortunov believes. The Izvestia interlocutor believes that if progress is made in the working groups now, success can be developed in other areas.

Negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis resumed after Donald Trump returned to the White House in early 2025. The first telephone conversation between the leaders of the United States and Russia took place in February. Trump called for an early end to the conflict, Putin pointed out the need to eliminate the original causes of the crisis, which, in fact, began in 2014 after the coup in Ukraine.

Last year, negotiations resumed in the Istanbul format between Moscow and Kiev, which were interrupted by Ukraine back in 2022. In June, the two countries exchanged memoranda on their vision for resolving the crisis. Among the points mentioned in the Russian document were ensuring the rights and freedoms of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine, lifting restrictions on the activities of the UOC, and prohibiting the glorification of Nazism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump during the arrival ceremony at the Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Base in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025.

Photo: Global Look Press/Benjamin Applebaum/Dod

The meeting of the leaders of Russia and the United States in Alaska, in Anchorage, on August 15, was also the largest event in the settlement process. As a result, the parties stated that long-term peace in Ukraine is impossible without resolving the territorial issue. After the meeting, the Anchorage formula emerged.

By the fall of 2025, Trump began saying that Ukraine and Russia were closer than ever to concluding an agreement, but later announced the problem of reconciling neighbors due to the difficulty of eliminating the root causes of the conflict, which the White House initially did not fully understand.