Translated with AI
A Russian delegation will depart for Abu Dhabi in the coming hours to participate in the first trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States, announced Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov. He made the announcement following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and representatives of Donald Trump.
According to him, the first meeting of the trilateral working group of Russia, the United States, and Ukraine will take place on January 23, 2026, in Abu Dhabi and will focus on security issues. "It has been agreed that the first meeting of the trilateral working group on security issues will take place in Abu Dhabi today, that is, Friday, January 23," Ushakov emphasized during a telephone briefing following talks on a peace settlement in Ukraine between representatives of Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. A transcript of his statement was published on the website of the state news agency TASS.
The Russian delegation has already been assembled and will depart for the Emirates in the coming hours. It includes senior representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, led by Admiral Igor Kostyukov, Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. It is noted that until 2010, this directorate was known as the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GRU).
The previous night, on the night of January 23, a meeting between US and Russian representatives on Ukraine took place in the Kremlin. The American side was represented by Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, White House Senior Advisor Josh Gruenbaum, and Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
It's worth noting that Jared Kushner served as Senior Advisor to the President of the United States from January 2017 to January 2021. While he currently holds no official position in the US administration, he continues to influence Donald Trump and participates in the White House's diplomatic and political initiatives. Josh Gruenbaum, Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the US General Services Administration, recently appointed by Trump as Senior Advisor to the new "Peace Council," participated in the negotiations for the first time.
In addition to Vladimir Putin and Yuri Ushakov, the Russian side was represented at the Kremlin meeting by Kirill Dmitriev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). According to Ushakov, the talks lasted over four hours and were "exceptionally substantive, constructive, extremely frank, and trusting."
The Russian presidential aide also reported that Wittkoff and Kushner shared their impressions of the contacts that took place in Davos, including Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Yuri Ushakov added that a parallel meeting between the heads of the Russian-American Economic Affairs Group, Steve Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, will be held in Abu Dhabi, allowing for discussions on bilateral economic cooperation.
