{"id":803,"date":"2026-01-23T15:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/?p=803"},"modified":"2026-01-23T15:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:33:19","slug":"putin-agrees-on-next-steps-with-us-envoys-as-kremlin-stresses-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/?p=803","title":{"rendered":"Putin Agrees on Next Steps With US Envoys as Kremlin Stresses Territory","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia has confirmed it will take part in security talks with the United States and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Friday, while stressing that a lasting peace settlement will remain out of reach unless territorial questions are addressed. The announcement followed late-night talks in Moscow between President Vladimir Putin<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a> and a delegation of US envoys. The meeting began shortly before midnight and lasted around four hours.<\/p>\n

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a> described the discussions as \u201csubstantive, constructive and very frank,\u201d but stopped short of declaring any major breakthrough.<\/p>\n

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Territory Named as Core Obstacle<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ushakov said Russian officials reiterated that territorial issues must be resolved in line with a framework discussed during last year\u2019s Trump\u2013Putin summit in Alaska.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout settling the territorial question under the agreed formula, there is no prospect of a long-term settlement,\u201d Ushakov said.<\/p>\n

He added that while Moscow remains open to diplomacy, Russia would continue pursuing what it calls its \u201cspecial military operation\u201d until those conditions are met, particularly on the battlefield where he said Russian forces currently hold the strategic initiative.<\/p>\n

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Russian Delegation and Separate Economic Talks<\/strong><\/h4>\n

According to Ushakov, Admiral Igor Kostyukov<\/span><\/span><\/strong> will lead Russia\u2019s delegation at the Abu Dhabi security talks. Separately, investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev<\/span><\/span><\/strong> is expected to meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff<\/span><\/span><\/strong> to discuss economic matters.<\/p>\n

On the Russian side, Putin, Ushakov and Dmitriev were present at the Moscow talks.<\/p>\n

\"Putin<\/p>\n

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Expanded US Delegation<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The US delegation included Witkoff and Jared Kushner<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, who previously met Putin in the Kremlin in December. They were joined by Josh Gruenbaum<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, recently appointed as a senior adviser to President Donald Trump<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u2019s Board of Peace.<\/p>\n

The meeting marked the latest step in Trump\u2019s push to bring an end to the conflict, now approaching its fourth year and widely regarded as Europe\u2019s deadliest war since World War Two.<\/p>\n

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Ukraine Rejects Territorial Concessions<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Witkoff had earlier said negotiations had narrowed to a single unresolved issue, though he did not specify what it was. Ushakov\u2019s emphasis on territory aligns with Russia\u2019s long-standing demands.<\/p>\n

Moscow is seeking Ukraine\u2019s withdrawal from the remaining areas it controls in the eastern Donetsk region, while also demanding that Kyiv abandon its ambition to join NATO and reject any future NATO troop presence on Ukrainian soil.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy<\/span><\/span><\/strong> has repeatedly ruled out ceding territory, arguing that Ukraine has defended those areas at significant human and military cost.<\/p>\n

After meeting Trump in Switzerland earlier this week, Zelenskiy said security guarantees had been finalised, but acknowledged that the territorial dispute remained unresolved.<\/p>\n

\n

War Continues as Talks Loom<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ukraine is currently enduring one of the harshest winters of the war, with Russian missile and drone strikes targeting energy infrastructure. Prolonged power outages have left large numbers of residents in Kyiv and other cities without heating in sub-zero temperatures.<\/p>\n

Kyiv cites the attacks as evidence that Moscow lacks genuine interest in peace, a claim Russia denies, arguing that its advances have come at significant cost.<\/p>\n

Ushakov praised the US for its role in organising Friday\u2019s meeting in Abu Dhabi, saying Washington hopes the talks will create momentum toward ending the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey believe this meeting can open prospects for progress across the full range of issues connected to a peace agreement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

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Russia has confirmed it will take part in security talks with the United States and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on Friday, while stressing that a lasting peace settlement will remain out of reach unless territorial questions are addressed. The announcement followed late-night talks in Moscow between President Vladimir Putin and a delegation of US envoys. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":1,"featured_media":805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":806,"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions\/806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ahwaz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}