Zelenskyy: "We are ready to meet as early as tomorrow, but everything depends on Russia"
A meeting of the negotiation groups from Ukraine, the US, and Russia is planned to be held in the first half of November. Reuters sources indicated Abu Dhabi or Switzerland as possible locations. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, stressed the need to move from technical-level talks to a meeting of heads of state.
Zelenskyy: "We are ready to meet as early as tomorrow, but everything depends on Russia"
On October 23, Reuters reported, citing unnamed government sources, that the next round of negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine could take place within a few weeks.
Delegations from Ukraine, Russia, and the US are expected to attend the meeting. However, it remains unclear whether representatives from Kyiv and Moscow will engage in direct dialogue or negotiate through US mediation. According to a Washington representative, the ultimate goal of the potential talks is to prepare for a high-level meeting.
Speaking via video link at the Hudson Institute think tank in the US on October 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that an agreement had been reached to hold a trilateral meeting at the level of negotiation groups.
"We are planning to meet in the first half of November. We are ready to meet on any day, even tomorrow. But everything depends on the Russians," he said.
Zelenskyy emphasized that key issues can only be resolved by heads of state. Therefore, it is necessary to move from technical-level trilateral negotiations to a meeting of leaders.
Shortly before this, the Kremlin announced that negotiations would be held in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. According to Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for the Russian president, the meeting will address security guarantees for Russia and Ukraine after the war ends. He also noted that European Union representatives would not participate in the talks.
Two days prior, Vladimir Putin received Steven Witkoff, the special envoy of the US president, in Saint Petersburg. Following the meeting, Yuri Ushakov, aide to the Russian president, stated that Moscow is ready to resume trilateral negotiations with the US and Ukraine.
Delegations from Ukraine, Russia, and the US have previously held closed-door negotiations in Abu Dhabi twice: the first meeting took place on January 23–24, and the second on February 4–5. Neither resulted in significant progress toward ending the war.