Russia agrees on next steps with US envoys but says territory is the key issue

Russia said it will hold security talks with the United States and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Friday, but warned that a lasting peace would be impossible unless territorial issues are resolved.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the talks followed a late-night meeting between President Vladimir Putin and three US envoys that began shortly before midnight and lasted about four hours. He described the discussions as useful and “extremely frank.”

Ushakov said Russian Admiral Igor Kostyukov would lead Moscow’s delegation at the three-way security talks, while investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev would meet separately with Steve Witkoff, the envoy of US President Donald Trump, to discuss economic matters.

He stopped short of announcing any breakthrough.

“Most importantly, during these talks between our president and the Americans, it was reiterated that without resolving the territorial issue according to the formula agreed upon in Anchorage, there is no hope of achieving a long-term settlement,” Ushakov said, referring to last year’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

Ushakov said Putin stressed that Russia was “sincerely interested” in a diplomatic solution, but added that Moscow would continue pursuing the goals of what it calls its “special military operation” until such an agreement is reached.

“This is especially true on the battlefield, where the Russian armed forces hold the strategic initiative,” he said.

Putin, Ushakov and Dmitriev took part in the talks on the Russian side. The US delegation included Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who last met Putin in the Kremlin in early December, and Josh Gruenbaum, a newly appointed senior adviser to Trump’s proposed Board of Peace.

The talks are the latest step in Trump’s effort to end the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, now approaching its fourth year.