US proposes trilateral Ukraine-Russia meeting in UAE, Zelenskyy says

The United States has proposed that the United Arab Emirates host a trilateral meeting with Ukraine and Russia to discuss efforts to end their war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday, Reuters reported.

“The American side has proposed… meeting at a technical level in a three-way format,” Zelenskyy told reporters in a briefing via WhatsApp. “We are awaiting a proposal from the United States regarding the date, and the United States has suggested the Emirates as a possible location.”

The proposal follows his talks this week with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where they discussed ways to bring an end to the war, launched by Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After those talks, Ukrainian negotiators met their US counterparts to discuss specifics.

“We will inform and discuss these details with the European side, the Americans will talk to the Russians, and we will return in 10 days with either a new perspective or a result,” Zelenskyy said. The Kremlin said on Friday that a trilateral meeting with Ukraine and the US could happen soon.

Zelenskyy also said he had asked Trump to raise the Ukraine war in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a state visit to the US. He said Kyiv was still awaiting US feedback on de-escalation efforts ahead of winter, and warned European partners that Russia would continue its hybrid attacks against them — a claim the Kremlin has denied.