MOSCOW (Realist English). The Kremlin has confirmed that Russia will send a delegation to trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States starting January 23 in the United Arab Emirates, following a four-hour meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior representatives of US President Donald Trump, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
According to Ushakov, the overnight meeting on January 23 involved US envoys Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Joshua Grunbaum and focused on security, geopolitical and economic issues. He said the Russian delegation to the trilateral negotiations will be led by Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff, and will include representatives from the Defence Ministry.
Ushakov added that parallel bilateral talks between Russia and the United States will take place in Abu Dhabi. Russia will be represented by Putin’s investment and economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, while the US side will be led by Steve Witkoff. Those discussions will focus on economic cooperation.
At the same time, Ushakov stressed that Russia will continue military operations in Ukraine until Moscow concludes that Kyiv is ready to “resolve the territorial issue.” The official Kremlin readout from the meeting did not mention any new conditions for ending hostilities in the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
During the Moscow talks, the sides also discussed US plans to seek control over Greenland and Trump’s proposal to establish a “Peace Council.” The Kremlin confirmed that Russia is prepared to contribute $1 billion from Russian assets frozen in the United States to support the council’s activities. Moscow said it could also consider directing remaining funds from that source toward rebuilding territories affected by the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
The announcement follows earlier remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was the first to publicly confirm plans for trilateral talks involving Kyiv, Moscow and Washington. Ukraine’s delegation will include National Security and Defence Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and Presidential Office head Kyrylo Budanov. Ukrainian officials expect the negotiations to last two days.
