President Volodymyr Zelensky says trilateral talks on ending the war in Ukraine are to take place with Russia and the US in the United Arab Emirates, after he met President Donald Trump in Davos.
As the diplomatic pace appeared to intensify, Trump said his meeting with Zelensky was good, and US envoy Steve Witkoff headed to Moscow for talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Witkoff, who was travelling to Moscow with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, said he was optimistic about a deal.
“I think we’ve got it down to one issue and we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it’s solvable,” he said before leaving the Swiss resort.
Trump’s envoy gave no details about the remaining sticking point, but Zelensky later clarified that the future status of eastern Ukraine remained the unsolved issue.
He made clear that the planned talks in the Emirates would involve Russia as well as the US and Ukraine, adding that “the Russians have to be ready for compromises, not only Ukraine”.
“It’s all about the land. This is the issue which is not solved yet,” Zelensky told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland – adding that trilateral talks might provide the two sides with “variants”.
The US proposal for Ukraine’s industrial heartland in Donbas is for a demilitarised and free economic zone in exchange for security guarantees for Kyiv.
“If both sides want to solve this, we’re going to get it solved,” Witkoff said, explaining that he would be heading to Abu Dhabi after Moscow, where working groups would be covering military issues as well as economic prosperity.
Zelensky also told reporters that he had reached an agreement with Trump on future US security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a deal. He gave no details but said it would need to go before the US Congress and Ukrainian parliament before signing.
Although he said the “Coalition of the Willing”, led by the UK and France, had committed forces on the ground to monitor the deal, he was adamant a Trump backstop would be necessary too: “No security guarantees work without the US.”
Earlier he used his Davos speech to criticise his European allies for a lack of “political will” to take action against Russia.
“There are endless internal arguments and things left unsaid that stop Europe from uniting and speaking honestly enough to find real solutions,” he said, drawing a contrast with the US under Trump.
“President Trump loves who he is, and he says he loves Europe, but he will not listen to this kind of Europe,” he said.
