High Stakes for Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Low Expectations

Wed Feb 04 2026 07:00:25 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the US in Abu Dhabi reveal persistent tensions and unresolved issues despite the urgent need for peace.

Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, and the US have begun trilateral discussions in Abu Dhabi, marking their first in-person meeting since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. High stakes are present, but expectations are muted due to ongoing disputes over territorial claims. Ukraine's President Zelensky voices cautious optimism while emphasizing unresolved core issues, as Trump calls for a peace deal that remains elusive.

Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, and the US have been meeting in Abu Dhabi for their first trilateral talks since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But whilst the talks take a new format, the core differences remain the same.

The stakes are high, but expectations are limited.

Donald Trump is pushing hard for a peace deal in Ukraine – the one he promised but hasn't yet delivered – and he said this week that the two sides would be stupid if they couldn't agree.

But despite some intense shuttle diplomacy by his own envoys, they are hosting the first trilateral talks involving Ukrainian and Russian negotiators with some major issues still unresolved.

Ukraine is engaging with the process because it wants peace more than anyone, but also because it needs to keep the US onside. It learned that lesson the hard way last year, when Donald Trump briefly suspended intelligence sharing and military aid.

Now, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says his talks with Trump in Davos were really positive and he hopes for more air defence support against Russia's relentless attacks as a result.

Often grim-faced after his encounters with the US leader, this time Zelensky seemed unusually upbeat.

But he remains cautious on the outcome of talks in the United Arab Emirates.

He's described the meetings, which may last two days, as a step, but shied away from calling it a positive one.

We have to wish it will push us a bit closer to peace, is how he put it.

The other big issue up for discussion in the UAE is what the US would do, militarily, if Russia were to invade Ukraine again someday. That's what Ukraine calls its security guarantees, and says are essential.

As for trusting Vladimir Putin, no one here is under any illusions that his aims have changed.

He really doesn't want it, is what Zelensky said in Davos about Putin and peace.

The Kremlin has said that if it doesn't get what it wants at the talking table, it will achieve its aims on the battlefield - though it's failed so far, despite sacrificing a huge number of soldiers.