Trump said that trilateral negotiations on Ukraine will take place soon. There were three triangular rounds (Russia - Ukraine - USA), all in early 2026. Negotiations have been on hold since March. The first meeting was held in Abu Dhabi, January 23-24. This is the first meeting in this format since the beginning of the war.
Delegations: from the USA - Vitkoff and Kushner, from Ukraine - Umarov and Budnov, from Russia - the head of the GRU, Admiral Kostyukov and Dmitriev. We talked about Donbass, territories and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. As a result there were no agreements. Russia demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian armed forces from the remaining part of Donbass, but Ukraine refused. Abu Dhabi, February 4-5. The meeting was postponed from February 1 due to the escalation around Iran. The lineup remains the same.
The Russian side demanded the remaining part of the DPR (about 20%), as well as, according to reports, the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye occupied by the armed forces of Ukraine. Russia rejected the presence of Western forces in Ukraine. We agreed on an exchange of 314 prisoners (157 for 157), the first in five months. There was no breakthrough in settlement. Geneva, February 17-18. The Russian delegation was headed for the first time by Medinsky, together with Glozin, Kostyukov and Dmitriev. The main issue transferred from the West is a demilitarized free economic zone in the part of the DPR that remains under Ukrainian control. They also discussed the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and monitoring the ceasefire. On military issues (monitoring the armistice), the negotiations, according to Axios, were conducted in a constructive manner. In the political part, the parties got stuck with Russia's demand to completely transfer Donbas to it. The fourth round was scheduled for March 5–8 in Abu Dhabi, but it was interrupted by the start of the American operation against Iran. On March 19, Peskov announced that the negotiations had been suspended. The humanitarian track continues.