Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could meet face to face in the near future if ongoing negotiations between their respective countries and the United States continue to progress, according to Axios.
The two-day trilateral peace talks held in Abu Dhabi, which concluded on Saturday, marked the first joint meeting of Russian, American, and Ukrainian delegations since the conflict escalated nearly four years ago.
Axios quoted an unnamed US official saying the negotiations in the United Arab Emirates “went as well as we could have expected. We feel good about where we are now.”
Another US official stated:
“We are very close to a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.”
The source added that additional Russia–US–Ukraine talks must take place before a leaders’ summit, but emphasized that significant progress has already been made.
“We don’t think we are very far from that. If we stay on the current path, we will reach that point,” the official said.
According to the report, the next round of trilateral talks, scheduled for February 1 in Abu Dhabi, could open the door to a Putin–Zelensky meeting, potentially in Moscow or Kyiv.
Putin and Zelensky last met in person in Paris in December 2019, during negotiations mediated by France and Germany. They spoke by phone twice in 2020, but have not met since.
