By Dmitry Antonov and Mark Trevelyan
MOSCOW, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Russia said it will hold security talks with the U.S. and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Friday, but warned after a late-night meeting between President Vladimir Putin and three U.S. envoys that a durable peace would not be possible unless territorial issues were resolved.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the talks, which began shortly before midnight and lasted some four hours, had been useful and extremely frank.
He said Russian Admiral Igor Kostyukov would head Moscow’s team at the three-way security talks, and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev would meet separately on economic issues with Steve Witkoff, the envoy of President Donald Trump.
But while outlining the next steps, Ushakov stopped short of hailing any major 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,” he said, referring to last year’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.
Ushakov said Putin underlined that Russia was “sincerely interested” in a diplomatic solution.
He added, however: “Until this is achieved, Russia will continue to consistently pursue the objectives of the special military operation. This is especially true on the battlefield, where the Russian armed forces hold the strategic initiative.”
Putin, Ushakov and Dmitriev took part in the talks on the Russian side.
On the U.S. side, Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who last met Putin in the Kremlin in early December, were accompanied by Josh Gruenbaum, newly appointed by Trump as a senior adviser to his Board of Peace, which will seek to tackle world conflicts.
The talks were the latest stage in a drive by Trump to bring an end to the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, now approaching the end of its fourth year.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov in Moscow, writing by Mark Trevelyan in London; additional reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Filipp Lebedev in London, Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow and Ron Popeski in WinnipegEditing by Shri Navaratnam)
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