Putin met with Trump’s envoys until dawn and warned that without a territorial agreement there will be no peace in Ukraine

The talks were held in the Kremlin and continued until after 3 a.m., in what Russian officials described as a “frank, constructive and fruitful” dialogue. Special envoys participated on Washington’s side Steve Witkoff y Jared Kushneraccompanied by Josh Gruenbaumhead of the Federal Acquisition Service and senior advisor to the Peace Board promoted by Trump, to which Russia was invited to join.

The Kremlin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, who also participated in the meeting, maintained that during the meeting “it was reaffirmed that one cannot hope to reach a long-term agreement without resolving the territorial questionThe warning points directly to Moscow’s demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the eastern regions of the country that Russia unilaterally annexed in 2022, although it never managed to fully control.

As Ushakov explained, this condition is part of the so-called “Anchorage formula”agreed during the August 2025 summit between Putin and Trump, in which the United States gave up demanding an immediate ceasefire as a preliminary step to political negotiation. “Russia is sincerely interested in a political-diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, but until it is resolved, it will continue to achieve the objectives of the special military operation on the battlefield,” the official said.

The meeting in Moscow took place hours after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyharshly criticized its European allies during the World Economic Forum in Davos. There, the president questioned what he considered a slow and fragmented response from Europe against the Russian invasion, which has been going on for almost four years, and warned that this lack of decision leaves Ukraine in a position of weakness vis-à-vis Moscow, amid pressure from the US to move towards a peace agreement.

Zelensky also maintained a closed-door meeting with Trump in Davoswhich lasted approximately an hour and which the head of the White House described as “productive and meaningful”. Subsequently, the Republican assured that both Putin and Zelensky want to reach an understanding and that “Everyone is making concessions” to end the conflict, although he acknowledged that the main friction point remains the same for months: the borders.

“That has been the main obstacle for the last year,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, referring to the territorial dispute. Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory since the start of hostilities in 2014 and the large-scale invasion in 2022, although advances on the front – which extends more than 1,000 kilometers – have come at a high human and economic cost for Moscow, aggravated by international sanctions.

As a result of the meeting in the Kremlin, Ushakov confirmed that Russian, Ukrainian and American officials will begin this Friday in United Arab Emirates United two days of trilateral talks focused on security issues linked to an eventual peace agreement. The Russian delegation will be led by the head of military intelligence, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, while Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, will hold parallel meetings with Witkoff to discuss economic issues.

During the evening meeting in Moscow, Trump’s envoys also briefed Putin on previous contacts with Ukrainian and European officials, as well as the dialogue between Trump and Zelensky in Davos. Ushakov noted that the United States expressed its hope that these negotiations will “open up prospects for progress on the entire range of issues related to ending the conflict.”

In parallel, Putin reiterated a controversial proposal: provide 1 billion dollars, from Russian assets frozen in the US, to help finance the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, through the new organization promoted by Trump. Asked about the initiative, the American president responded that it seemed appropriate. “If you use your money, great,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zelensky redoubled his criticism of Europe during his speech in Davos. “Europe seems lost,” he said, and compared the situation to the movie “Groundhog Day,” in which the protagonist relives the same day over and over again. “Last year, here in Davos, I said that Europe needed to know how to defend itself. A year has passed and nothing has changed,” he lamented.

The Ukrainian president also questioned the low European spending on defense, the lack of forceful measures against the so-called “ghost fleet” of Russian oil tankers that evade international sanctions and the reluctance to use the Kremlin’s assets frozen in Europe to finance Ukraine.

In the military field, the situation remains complex for kyiv. Despite having increased its local arms production, Ukraine continues to depend on Western aid and faces a serious shortage of troops. Its Defense Minister recently reported that the country registers around 200,000 desertions and nearly two million cases of evasion of military service.

For its part, the Kremlin insisted that the Russian Armed Forces maintain the strategic initiative, although it acknowledged that low temperatures and snow have slowed the offensive in the heart of Donbas since the end of last year. Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four annexed regions in 2022 as an indispensable condition for moving towards any agreement.