Meeting between Vladimir Putin and Steve Whitcoff, Jared Kushner, and Josh Grünbaum
Negotiations between Whitcoff, Kushner, and Putin, as noted by Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, focused on the impressions and assessments that the Americans received from the recent meetings between Trump and Zelensky in Davos, as well as from other meetings that took place in December and January in various locations, including Florida and European capitals.
Ushakov emphasized that the goal of the negotiations was to jointly define the parameters for further actions based on the information received. As a next step, the parties agreed on the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security issues, which will involve representatives from Russia, the USA, and Ukraine. This meeting is scheduled for January 23 in Abu Dhabi.
The Russian delegation has already been formed, received specific instructions from Putin, and will soon fly to Abu Dhabi, Ushakov reported. The delegation will include representatives from the Ministry of Defense, including the head of the GRU, Igor Kostyukov.
There will also be a meeting in Abu Dhabi between Whitcoff and the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, who co-leads the bilateral working group on economic issues.
Ushakov assured journalists that the negotiations in the Kremlin were constructive and candid. At the same time, the Russian side reiterated that without resolving the territorial issue, it is impossible to expect a long-term settlement of the conflict. "Until this happens, Russia will pursue its goals set during the special military operation," he added.
Additionally, the meeting discussed Trump's initiative to create a "peace council," as well as various regional issues, including the situation surrounding Greenland.
Russia proposed to allocate $1 billion from frozen Russian assets in the USA to finance the "peace council." Ushakov added that other frozen funds could be used for the reconstruction of affected territories after a peace treaty is concluded between Russia and Ukraine.
So far, the White House has not provided comments on the outcomes of the meeting in the Kremlin.
Donald Trump, while aboard Air Force One on his way from Davos, told reporters that Putin and Zelensky expressed a desire to come to an agreement and end the conflict.
The plane with the American delegation landed at Moscow's Vnukovo-2 airport on Thursday evening, and shortly after 11 PM local time, news broke about the start of the meeting with Putin.
At the meeting, in addition to Putin, his aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, who specializes in investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, were present.
The American delegation, besides Whitcoff and Kushner, also included Josh Grünbaum, the commissioner of the Federal Procurement Service, who had not been mentioned earlier.
This was the first visit of Whitcoff and Kushner to Moscow this year; their previous meeting with Putin took place in December. Whitcoff had also visited Moscow five times before.
On Thursday in Davos, there was also a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had previously expressed doubts about his visit due to the possibility that Trump's main topic could be Greenland rather than Ukraine. The Financial Times reported that the signing of the "prosperity plan" for Ukraine was postponed due to disagreements between Trump and European leaders.
After the meeting with Trump, Zelensky briefly described on social media the discussion about the peace agreement and US assistance for Ukrainian air defense. Later, he added that he was returning from Davos with certain agreements on a new aid package for air defense, but did not specify with whom they were reached.
"I believe the meeting with Zelensky was successful. The process continues. Tomorrow we meet with Russia, with President Putin. Everyone wants the war to end," Trump stated.
After his communication with Trump, Zelensky spoke at the World Economic Forum, where he criticized Europe's indecisiveness and called to end the "Groundhog Day."
"In Europe, there are endless internal disputes, and a lot of uncertainty that hinders effective resistance to Russia. Party and community leaders are fighting each other instead of stopping Russia's aggression," he emphasized.
The President of Ukraine announced the first trilateral meeting of representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the USA, which will begin in Abu Dhabi on Friday and last for two days.
"This is better than no dialogue," Zelensky added.
According to his statement, the Ukrainian delegation will consist of five people: Umerov, Kirill Budanov, Sergey Kyslytsia, David Arakhamia, and Andrey Gnatov.
Whitcoff also confirmed information about negotiations at the working group level in Abu Dhabi, noting that discussions on the final settlement of the conflict have made significant progress and have come down to "literally one question," but did not specify which one.
In Davos, Zelensky stated that the document on security guarantees from the USA for Ukraine is ready, but an agreement on territorial control has not yet been reached.
Russia insists on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire territory of Donbas, including areas that have not been occupied by Russian troops, which Ukraine considers unacceptable.
In November, consultations took place in Abu Dhabi between US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Russian representatives, while the Ukrainian delegation led by Budanov also contacted both sides at that time.
