Second round of negotiations Ukraine, Russia and the USA: agreement only on prisoners

It’s not exactly a stalemate, but certainly the second round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States in Abu Dhabi did not produce the desired results. The only agreement concerned him exchange of 314 prisoners. The spokeswoman of the head of the Ukrainian delegation Rustem Umerov, Diana Davitian, announced the end of the negotiations shortly after the announcement of the agreement on prisoners made by the American envoy Steve Witkoff.

Following the model of the first round on 23-24 January also in the Emirates, the matches had variable geometry. First preliminary three-way consultations, then discussions in the working groups and then alignment of positions again in a trilateral format.

According to RBC-Ukraine, some progress has been recorded in the military sphere, on mechanisms for monitoring the ceasefire and on the creation of a coordination center. However, the territorial issue, which is fundamental, has not yet been resolved. Russia continues to claim all of Donbass, even the areas it did not occupy. And Witkoff himself admitted that the desired turning point has not been achieved.

However, he was keen to point out on And the communication channels are not closed. On the contrary. “Discussions will continue and further progress is expected in the coming weeks,” Witkoff assured.

Zelensky, Abu Dhabi negotiations were not easy

Negotiations with Moscow and Washington were “not simple”, the president said Volodymyr Zelensky after another round of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at finding a way out of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“The dialogue continues. Of course, it is not simple,” he said from the Ukrainian capital. “We want to see faster results,” he added.

“The most important thing is that Russia does not receive any reward for its aggression” against Ukraine and that Kiev gets “real security guarantees,” Zelensky reminded.