Hastily convened Russia-Ukraine ‘military to military’ working groups to take place in UAE from Friday – a first since 2022. What we know on day 1,430
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “Russians have to be ready for compromises” as his envoys rushed to Abu Dhabi for two days of trilateral meetings involving the US, Ukraine and Russia. The peace talks involving Russia and Ukraine at the same time mark the first time the warring parties have been brought together in one forum since 2022 and the early days of the war. “I hope [the] Emirates know about it. Sometimes, we have such surprises from the American side,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the talks, suggesting they were called by the US at short notice. “It will be the first trilateral meeting in the United Arab Emirates,” said Ukraine’s president, who spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Everybody has to be ready [for compromise], not only Ukraine, and this is important for us,” Zelenskyy said. Steve Witkoff, one of the US envoys, said the Abu Dhabi proceedings would take the form of “military to military” working groups. He met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday and a Kremlin spokesperson said: “It was agreed that the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security issues will take place today in Abu Dhabi.”
