U.S.-Russia-Ukraine trilateral talks to end war made progress, U.S. officials say

The trilateral talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi were "productive" and made progress, U.S. officials said.

Why it matters: The talks were a new phase in the U.S. mediation efforts aimed at ending the war. President Trump's advisers were very optimistic after the talks on Saturday and felt they managed to go on a path that will allow them to narrow the gaps on the key sticking point — the territorial control in eastern Ukraine.
Driving the news: The talks took place as Russia launched another massive missile and drone attack against Kyiv and other cities overnight.

Ukrainian President Zelensky said 370 attack drones and 21 missiles of various types were fired by the Russian military.
"We must ensure full implementation of everything agreed with President Trump in Davos regarding air defense," he stressed.
Behind the scenes: It took several months for the White House to convince the Russians and Ukrainians to hold trilateral talks with U.S. mediation, two U.S. officials said in a briefing with reporters on Saturday.

They added that the meeting between President Trump and Zelensky in Davos on Thursday afternoon and the four-hour meeting between his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and President Putin in Moscow on Thursday night laid the ground for the talks in Abu Dhabi.
"Both Putin and Zelensky agreed to send their negotiators. It show they believe progress is being made," one of the U.S. officials said.
"In the last hour of the meeting Kushner and Witkoff had with Putin, the Russian president said that he wants to see a diplomatic settlement of this war. He sent a pretty substantial delegation to Abu Dhabi," the second U.S. official said.
State of play: The talks started on Friday and continued on Saturday with U.S. mediators holding a joint meetings with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators and with the Russians and Ukrainians meeting directly without the Americans in the room, Ukrainian officials said.

The U.S. delegation included Trump advisors Witkoff, Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and the commander of the U.S. military European command, Alexus Grynkewich.
The Ukrainian team included Zelensky's chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, national security adviser Rustem Umerov, Ukrainian military chief of staff General Andrii Hnatov and Zelensky's advisers Sergiy Kyslytsya and Davyd Arakhamia.
The Russian team was led by the head of Russian military intelligence Admiral Igor Kostyukov.
Zoom in: The U.S. officials said all the issues were discussed during the two days of negotiations in Davos - the Russian territorial demands in Donbas, the dispute over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and what kind of de-escalation steps will be needed from both sides to make it clear that the war is over and will not resume.

After meeting for a plenary session, Kushner, Witkoff and the other members of the U.S. team moved between the different rooms where Russian-Ukrainian working group were meeting.
"Everything was discussed. No one was put off by the discussions on either side. We haven't left any issues out of the discussion and we didn't have to prod anybody. We saw a lot of respect in the room because they were really looking for solutions," one of the U.S. officials said.
At the end of the second day of talks, the three teams sat together for a joint lunch. "There was a moment that everybody looked almost as they were friends. I had a sense of hope," the U.S. official said.
"It went as well as we could have expected. We feel good where we are now," the second U.S. official said.
What they're saying: Zelensky said in a statement after receiving a report from his negotiations team that the talks were "constructive" and added the focus of the discussions was "the possible parameters for ending the war."

He said that he appreciates the fact that the U.S. is willing to conduct "monitoring and oversight of the process of ending the war and ensuring genuine security."
A Ukrainian official said that while "good progress" has been made, it is still unclear whether Putin really wants to end the war and will empower his negotiators to cut a deal. "It is too early to judge," the official said.
What to watch: The U.S. officials said the meeting in Abu Dhabi was a critical step toward getting to the next stage in the negotiations.

"We are very close to a meeting between Putin and Zelensky," one U.S. official said.
The official suggested that if the next trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi makes more progress it could lead to the parties meeting in Moscow or in Kyiv - something that hasn't happened in years.
"We think those meetings need to happen before a meeting between the leaders. We don't think we are far away from that. If we continue down the current path we will get to that place," the U.S. official said.
What's next: Ukrainian officials say another round of talks is expected to be held in Abu Dhabi next week. A U.S. official said the next round is expected to take place on February 1.