ISTANBUL
First informal trilateral peace talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the US have begun in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, according to media reports on Friday.
Citing remarks by Ukraine’s presidential office to journalists, the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that there is no official start time for the talks, though some teams are already on site and are holding informal discussions.
It also reported that Ukraine's presidential communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, explained the talks to be conversations involving various "non-formal" representatives, while not clarifying further.
Lytvyn added that, therefore, these conversations cannot be considered as a regular political meeting, which he said happens within some clear framework.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not confirm the meeting yet. "No, I don’t have (such) information, I don’t know," Peskov said as quoted by state news agency TASS.
According to Sky News, informal meetings had strated, and actual formal negotiations were due to start in the evening.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the trilateral talks at a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also confirmed he would head to Abu Dhabi after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
He said at an event in Davos that “a lot of progress” had been made in Russia-Ukraine peace talks, and that negotiations were down to one last issue.
Zelenskyy told journalists that the issue of the Donbas region will be “key” during the trilateral talks. "It will be discussed and the modalities will be discussed, as the three parties see it, in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow."
Separately, Peskov reaffirmed Russia's position to reporters at a press briefing, arguing the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the region is a "very important condition" for a peace settlement.