Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “Russians have to be ready for compromises” as his envoys rushed to Abu Dhabi for two days of trilateral meetings bringing together the US, Ukraine and Russia. Sometimes, we have such surprises from the American side,” Zelenskyy said of the talks, suggesting they were called by the US at short notice. “Everybody has to be ready [for compromise], not only Ukraine, and this is important for us,” Zelenskyy said. Steve Witkoff, one of the US envoys, said the Abu Dhabi proceedings would take the form of “military to military” working groups. He met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday and a Kremlin spokesperson said: “It was agreed that the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security issues will take place today in Abu Dhabi.”

Source: The Guardian January 23, 2026 04:20 UTC