Zelensky announces a possible US-Ukraine-Russia technical meeting in the United Arab Emirates

The United States has proposed organizing a trilateral technical meeting between representatives of the US, Ukraine, and Russia in the United Arab Emirates, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday. Kyiv is now waiting for Washington to set the date for the talks.

Zelenskyy specified that the Ukrainian and American teams agreed, after Tuesday’s meeting in New York, to hold consultations with the Europeans and Moscow before resuming negotiations. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed preparations for trilateral discussions at the technical level and said that they could take place in the near future.

Ukraine supports a complete, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire. Moscow says it is ready to negotiate a “lasting and just” peace, but does not accept stopping the fighting for the duration of the negotiations.

In this context, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine could halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure if Russia did the same. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced, after meeting with Sergey Lavrov, that both sides had expressed interest in a limited ceasefire. The conversations are taking place against the backdrop of disagreements regarding the Minsk agreements and the future of the occupied territories.