Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian, U.S., and Russian officials would be holding trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday and Saturday.
Zelensky made the announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It would be the first meeting of its kind involving the United States since the war began.
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“I think it will be the first trilateral meeting in [the] Emirates. It will be tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” Zelensky said. “It will be two days’ meetings in [the] Emirates. I hope that Emirates know about it.”
The White House and the Kremlin haven’t yet confirmed the meeting.
Zelensky said his team was working with the U.S. on the peace agreement “almost every day,” joking that his diplomats shuttled between Ukraine and the U.S. so frequently that he asked Washington for U.S. passports for his team.
The Ukrainian president also voiced arguably his most hopeful sentiment yet regarding an end to the war, saying, “The documents aimed at ending this war are nearly, nearly ready.”
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One of his conditions, sure to be discussed if the UAE trilateral meeting follows through, is U.S. security guarantees.
“The U.K. and France are ready to actually commit their forces on the ground,” Zelensky said, “but the backstop of President Trump is needed. And again, no security guarantees work without the U.S.”