Russia, Ukraine, and US gear up for second round of peace talks
The Kremlin announced that a second round of peace talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States will be held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on February 1.
"Negotiations are scheduled for February 1. Well, tentatively, but that's what we're working with for now," the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Peskov also denied that the parties involved in the negotiations are currently not discussing any list of documents and that discussions should continue behind closed doors.
"These negotiations are on a very sensitive topic. They're very complex negotiations. And discussing any specific segments publicly during the negotiations is detrimental to the negotiations," he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an evening address on Monday that preliminary discussions are underway for a continued meeting between delegations, saying these discussions indicate they would meet again on February 1.
On the same day, Peskov said the next round of US-mediated talks is planned for next week, again in Abu Dhabi, but he had not provided an exact date.
Russia, Ukraine and the US held two days of consultations in Abu Dhabi on January 23-24. Both Kiev and Washington described the talks as "constructive", while Peskov said contacts had begun in a constructive manner, but with "significant work ahead".
Last week, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who took part in the talks in Abu Dhabi, told an event in Davos, Switzerland, that "a lot of progress" had been made in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and that negotiations were down to one last issue.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in an interview published on Tuesday that Zelenskyy is ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to address the "most sensitive" issues remaining in a 20-point peace plan to end the nearly four-year war, which he said are territories and the operation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
By Ulviyya Salmanli
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