The meeting will take place on February 4th and 5th; dialogue was initially scheduled for this Sunday (1st)
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced that the next trilateral contacts with Russia and the United States in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, will take place on February 4th and 5thand not this Sunday, as originally planned.
“Ukraine is ready for a substantial discussion and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war. Our negotiating team has just reported. The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been established: February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi,” Zelensky said on social media, in which he thanked “everyone who is helping.”
Until now, it was expected that, after the first contacts that took place last weekend, the next meeting of negotiating delegations would take place this Sunday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, although neither party had officially confirmed this. However, Zelensky had already hinted that there was a possibility that instability in the Middle East and tensions surrounding Iran would lead the US to postpone the meeting.
As first meetings, a week ago, were constructive, according to those involved, and addressed, for example, according to the Ukrainian presidentthe partial truce against energy system targets that was announced later on Thursday by American leader Donald Trump, and which both parties appear to have complied with so far.
However, one of the main obstacles that remains is the territorial issue and, last Friday, Zelensky insisted that Ukraine will not accept the territorial demands of Russia, which asks to keep the entire Donbass region to end the war.
“So far, we have not reached an agreement on the territorial issue, specifically on the eastern part of Ukraine. We are talking about the Donetsk region,” said Zelensky, quoted by the Ukrainian public agency “Ukrinform”, at a press conference held in Kiev.
The Ukrainian president once again showed himself open to the possibility proposed by the US of creating a free economic zone without military presence in the area now under Kiev’s control, demanded by Moscow, but made it clear that this must occur without this territory ceasing to be Ukrainian.
Since last weekend, diplomatic contacts have continued, and the White House emissary for the conflict, Steve Witkoff, met this Saturday in Florida with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in a meeting that was considered “productive”.
*With EFE
