Ukraine-Russia bilateral talks held in Abu Dhabi alongside trilateral meeting with US – Axios

Axios has reported that talks in Abu Dhabi took place not only in a trilateral format involving Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also in a bilateral Ukraine-Russia format without US participation.

Source: Axios, quoting US and Ukrainian officials

Details: Ukrainian officials told the outlet that on Saturday US intermediaries held joint meetings with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators and that Russians and Ukrainians also met directly, without the Americans.

US officials said that over the two days of talks all issues were discussed, including Russia's territorial demands in Donbas, the dispute over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and what steps to de-escalate the conflict would be required from both sides to make it clear that the war had ended and would not resume.

Axios reports that Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and other members of the US delegation moved between different rooms where meetings of the Russia-Ukraine working group were taking place.

"Everything was discussed. No one was put off by the discussions on either side. We haven't left any issues out of the discussion and we didn't have to prod anybody. We saw a lot of respect in the room because they were really looking for solutions," a US official said.

At the end of the second day of talks, the three teams gathered for a joint lunch.

"There was a moment that everybody looked almost as they were friends. I had a sense of hope," the official added.

"It went as well as we could have expected. We feel good where we are now," another US official said.

A Ukrainian official said that although "good progress" had been made, it remained unclear whether Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin truly wanted to end the war and whether he would grant his negotiators the authority to conclude an agreement. "It is too early to judge," a Ukrainian official said.

US officials believe that the Abu Dhabi meeting was an important step towards the next stage of talks, Axios reports.

"We are very close to a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy," a US official said.

The official suggested that if the next trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi brought further progress, it could lead to talks in Moscow or Kyiv.

"We think those meetings need to happen before a meeting between the leaders. We don't think we are far away from that. If we continue down the current path we will get to that place", they added.

The next round of talks is expected to take place on 1 February, Ukrainian officials told Axios.

Background: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the 23-24 January talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia in Abu Dhabi as constructive and said the talks could continue next week.

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