Vladimir Putin held talks with Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin

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On the night of January 23, Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin with US representatives - Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US President's son-in-law Jared Kushner. This was reported in the Kremlin. White House senior adviser Josh Grunbaum also attended the meeting for the first time. Negotiations began shortly before midnight and lasted more than three and a half hours.

From the Russian side, the meeting was attended by Presidential Assistant for International Affairs Yuri Ushakov and Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries Kirill Dmitriev. According to Ushakov, the negotiations were “exceptionally substantive, constructive, extremely frank and trusting.” He noted that the key task of the meeting was to obtain information about the contacts of the American side with Ukraine and European partners and “together determine the parameters for further actions.”

Ushakov also emphasized that during the negotiations, Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff reaffirmed: without resolving the territorial issue according to the formula agreed in Anchorage, it is impossible to count on a long-term settlement. At the same time, according to him, Putin declared Russia’s “sincere interest” in a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict, adding that until it is achieved, Moscow will continue to achieve its goals “on the battlefield.”

What did you agree on?

According to Yuri Ushakov, Moscow agreed to take part in the first meeting of the Russia-US-Ukraine trilateral working group on security issues. Negotiations will take place in the United Arab Emirates, in Abu Dhabi. Consultations are expected to begin on January 23. After a meeting with US representatives, Vladimir Putin gave the Russian delegation relevant instructions.

Special attention was paid to the issue of frozen Russian assets. Ushakov said that Russia is ready to send one billion dollars of these funds as a contribution to the Peace Council established by Donald Trump, and the rest to use to restore the territories of Ukraine after the conclusion of a peace treaty.

“During the exchange of views on the Peace Council, our readiness to send one billion dollars from Russian assets frozen by the previous US administration to the budget of this structure was emphasized. The rest of the funds from our frozen reserves in the United States could be used to restore territories damaged during the fighting, after the conclusion of a peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine,” Ushakov said.

Negotiations between Trump and Zelensky

Before their visit to Moscow, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Davos, where the World Economic Forum is taking place. There, on January 22, Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Both sides described the negotiations as positive, but did not publicly disclose specific agreements.

Zelensky said that in addition to documents related to a possible settlement, the issue of Ukraine’s air defense was discussed at the meeting. “The previous meeting with President Trump helped protect the skies. And I hope that this time we will also become stronger. He thanked us for the previous package of air defense missiles and asked for additional ones,” he wrote.

In recent months, no new deliveries of American missiles to Ukraine have been publicly announced. Previously, Donald Trump announced the transfer of shells for Patriot complexes in July 2025, specifying that they come through Germany, and the United States subsequently receives compensation.

Witkoff, in turn, spoke about progress in work on the peace plan. According to him, negotiations are being conducted on the basis of a 20-point document that the United States and Ukraine developed jointly, but which has not yet been agreed upon with Russia. In an interview with CNBC on January 21, he noted : “We are finalizing and agreeing on it.” There, Trump’s special representative made it clear that the parties had come close to discussing the territorial issue: “I think we are moving on to concluding deals on territories. It's the 800-pound elephant in the room."

What's next?

The next stage will be negotiations in Abu Dhabi, which will be held on January 23 and 24 in the format of working groups. According to Axios, control over territories in eastern Ukraine will be a key topic of discussion. Reuters, in turn, notes that the main stumbling block remains Moscow’s demand for the Donetsk region, while Kiev continues to call any territorial concessions one of its “red lines.” At the same time, in public statements by the Ukrainian side, the scenario of “freezing” the conflict along the front line is increasingly allowed - with de facto, but not de jure recognition of the loss of part of the territories.

Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the territory of Donbass is an important condition of the Russian side. According to him, Russia will be represented “exclusively by the military” at the negotiations in Abu Dhabi.

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky also emphasized that the Donbass issue will become the central item on the agenda of trilateral negotiations. According to him, it is the territorial issue that remains the main unresolved element of the peace process.

RBC-Ukraine reports that Zelensky has expanded the composition of the Ukrainian delegation. From Kyiv's side, the negotiations in Abu Dhabi will be attended by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, the head of the Presidential Office Kirill Budanov, his deputy and diplomatic adviser Sergei Kislitsa, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrei Gnatov, the head of the Servant of the People faction in the Ukrainian Parliament David Arakhamia, as well as a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Vadim Skibitsky.

The Russian delegation, according to Yuri Ushakov, will be headed by Admiral Igor Kostyukov. The tripartite format will be applied specifically to the security working group. Russia will also be represented by Special Presidential Representative Kirill Dmitriev in the economic track of the negotiations.

According to Ushakov, the United States expects that the meeting in Abu Dhabi “will open up prospects for progress on the entire range of issues related to ending the conflict and reaching an agreement on a peaceful settlement.”