Ukrainian leader says Kyiv and Moscow continue to have ‘fundamentally different’ positions on territorial concessions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that an agreement on US security guarantees for his country is “100 percent ready” to be signed after talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking at a news conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sunday, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv was ready to send the agreement to the US Congress and Ukrainian parliament for ratification.
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“For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States. The document is 100 percent ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place when we will sign it,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian leader also emphasised Ukraine’s push for European Union membership by 2027, calling it an “economic security guarantee”.
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in the capital of the United Arab Emirates on Friday and Saturday to discuss Washington’s framework for ending Moscow’s almost four-year-old war.
While no deal emerged from the talks, Moscow and Kyiv both said they were open to further dialogue, and more discussions were expected next Sunday in Abu Dhabi, a US official told reporters immediately after the discussions.
Zelenskyy described the talks as likely the first trilateral format in “quite a long while” that included not only diplomats but military representatives from all three sides.
The Ukrainian leader acknowledged fundamental differences between the Ukrainian and Russian positions, reaffirming territorial issues as a major sticking point.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a Ukraine settlement with US President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, during marathon talks late on Thursday.
The Kremlin insisted that to reach a peace deal, Kyiv must withdraw its troops from the areas in the east that Russia illegally annexed but has not fully captured.
Zelenskyy said that while Moscow wants Ukraine to abandon eastern regions of the country, Kyiv has not budged from its position that territorial integrity must be upheld.
“These are two fundamentally different positions – Ukraine’s and Russia’s. The Americans are trying to find a compromise,” Zelenskyy said, adding that “all sides must be ready for compromise”.
