Kremlin Outlines Russian Delegation’s Priorities in Trilateral Talks
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the first meeting of the new trilateral talks between Russian, U.S., and Ukrainian officials will focus exclusively on security issues. This format was agreed after Washington held separate bilateral discussions with both Kyiv and Moscow earlier in the week.
Peskov added that Russia has sent only military representatives to the talks. They received instructions from the head of state and departed in the morning for discussions scheduled to take place on Friday or Saturday in Abu Dhabi, depending on logistics.
Civilian officials from Russia and the United States will continue normalization talks. The chief Russian negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev, is already in Abu Dhabi.
Peskov reiterated Moscow’s reluctance to publicly discuss sensitive details of the meetings, and repeated Russia’s position that a lasting peace requires the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbas region—a demand Kyiv rejects.
The Ukrainian government hopes that Western sanctions and its own long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure will weaken Moscow and blunt its frontline advances. Russia, for its part, says it prefers a diplomatic settlement but will continue its military campaign as long as Kyiv refuses to accept what it calls reality.
Several Ukrainian cities have faced severe energy shortages due to cold weather and infrastructure damage from mismanagement and strikes, while Moscow says its retaliatory attacks aim to disrupt the production of Ukrainian kamikaze drones and missiles.
