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Zelensky announces negotiations to be held in UAE on Friday after issuing scathing criticism of European allies during speech at Davos
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Ukraine, Russia and the US will hold their first trilateral peace talks in the UAE on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky has announced, after launching a scathing attack on world leaders over a lack of support for Kyiv.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, the Ukrainian president said the meetings will be on the “technical level”, adding that “Russians have to be ready for compromises, not just Ukraine”.
His announcement came after he declared that Ukraine is “living in Groundhog Day”, as he made some of his most critical comments so far about Kyiv’s allies, telling delegates that Europe “loves to discuss the future but avoids taking action”.
Zelensky’s clear frustration was a stark contrast to the assessment of the war offered earlier by Donald Trump, who claimed that a deal to end the conflict was “close”. The US president said the pair held a “good” meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Thursday, but it was not clear whether the talks had failed to yield progress on key issues, such as territory.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is travelling to Moscow on Thursday to meet the Russian president Vladimir Putin and discuss an end to the war in Ukraine.
Russian Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber planes carried out a scheduled patrol over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, the defence ministry reported via its Telegram channel.
The bombers were accompanied by Sukhoi Su-35S and Su-30SM fighter jets, the ministry said.
Russia regularly conducts such patrols as a show of strength. The announcement was made minutes after president Vladimir Putin began a meeting with three US envoys in the Kremlin to discuss proposals for ending the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has chided Europe for being slow to act on key decisions, spending too little on defence, failing to stop Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers that are breaking international sanctions, and balking at using its frozen assets in Europe to finance Ukraine, among other things.
Europe, he said, “still feels more like a geography, history, a tradition, not a real political force, not a great power.”
“Some Europeans are really strong, it’s true, but many say we must stand strong, and they always want someone else to tell them how long they need to stand strong, preferably until the next election,” he said.
The Trump administration is pushing for a peace settlement, with its envoys shuttling between Kyiv and Moscow in a flurry of negotiations that some worry could force Ukraine into an unfavorable deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin began a meeting with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner late on Thursday to discuss a plan to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
Putin was meeting the two Americans shortly before midnight in Moscow after US President Donald Trump said a deal was “reasonably close” and Witkoff said negotiations had come down to one last issue.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine had clinched agreements on a new air defence package during meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“We are returning home with agreements on a new package of critically needed air defence for the protectionof our people,” Zelensky wrote in English on the X social media platform.
Ukrainian negotiators are en route to the United Arab Emirates for talks with Russian and US negotiating teams, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.
“Our team is now heading to the Emirates for meetings with both the American and Russian sides,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram after a day of talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We are waiting to see how it goes and will decide on the next steps.”
Zelensky had earlier said that negotiators from the three sides would hold meetings in Abu Dhabi on Friday and Saturday.
Ukraine’s energy system on Thursday endured its most difficult day since a widespread blackout hit the network in November 2022 and the situation remains “extremely difficult,” energy minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Shmyhal, who is also first deputy prime minister, said the difficulties were caused by a series of factors – constant shelling as well as damage to generating equipment and transformers. Conditions were most difficult in Kyiv and the surrounding region and in southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region. “Today in Ukraine was the most difficult day for the power system since the blackout of November 2022,” he wrote. “The situation is extremely difficult.”
The French navy has intercepted one of Russia’s sanctioned “shadow fleet” oil tankers in the Mediterranean with help from Britain.
Emmanuel Macron revealed that French forces had boarded a vessel this morning with allied support. The ship was subject to international sanctions and suspected of operating under a false flag, he said.
“We are determined to uphold international law and to ensure the effective enforcement of sanctions,” the French president wrote on social media. “The activities of the ‘shadow fleet’ contribute to financing the war of aggression against Ukraine.”
James C. Reynolds reports:
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Thursday evening for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a peace deal for Ukraine, according to a track of their plane on air traffic site Flightradar24.
The two Americans flew in from Switzerland, where they met Ukrainian officials this week and President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Davos on Thursday.
British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen discussed next steps for the Coalition of the Willing during a meeting at Chequers this afternoon.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister hosted the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, at Chequers this afternoon.
“The leaders began by reflecting on recent developments. They agreed that security in the Arctic was a matter for the entire Nato alliance, and Europe and Nato would continue to drive forward progress.
“The leaders also discussed how the UK and Denmark could deepen broader security cooperation, both bilaterally and across Europe, including through increasing interoperability between militaries.
“On Ukraine, the prime minister condemned Russia’s vicious attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and the leaders discussed next steps for the Coalition of the Willing.”
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