US proposes Ukraine–US–Russia talks in the UAE, Zelensky says

What happened

On September 25, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists that the United States had proposed preparing a trilateral meeting of Ukraine, the US and Russia at the technical level. Washington has suggested the United Arab Emirates as the venue. Kyiv, he said, is now waiting for the Americans to propose a date.

The key words are “technical level”: this would be a meeting of negotiating teams, not of presidents. According to Kyiv Post, the proposal comes as Washington steps up its diplomatic push to end the war.

Kyiv’s position

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Ukrinform the same day that there are “no obstacles on Ukraine’s side” and that Kyiv is ready to meet in this format. Such talks, he said, could produce results on humanitarian issues, different kinds of ceasefire and broader political tracks.

Sybiha believes a trilateral meeting of leaders would have the best chance of success. But everything depends on Russia, he added, and so far Kyiv has seen no signals that Moscow is ready. Commenting on Sergey Lavrov’s speech at the UN Security Council, the minister said he heard no readiness for peace, only statements that the war would go on. Lavrov told the council that Russia would not pause its “special military operation” for the duration of negotiations in any format. Ukraine’s conclusion: international pressure on Moscow is still insufficient and must be significantly stepped up.

Why the Emirates

The UAE has hosted such talks before. Kyiv Post notes that trilateral rounds took place there in January and February, followed by a round in Switzerland in February. A fourth round planned for Abu Dhabi in March was postponed because of fighting in the Middle East.

Zelensky has previously said Ukraine is discussing three possible routes to a ceasefire: an energy ceasefire, a maritime ceasefire and the trilateral format proposed by the US.

The G20 question

In parallel, the US has invited Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit in Miami on December 14–15, an invitation announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Zelensky says he is ready to attend and meet Putin if the Russian leader comes. The Kremlin has previously called a Putin–Zelensky meeting in Miami impossible, and on September 25 spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was too early to discuss the trip.

The invitation has proved divisive. A bipartisan group of 14 US senators, led by Roger Wicker and Jeanne Shaheen, urged President Donald Trump to withdraw it. Letting Putin attend a summit on US soil, they wrote, risks legitimising a government that attacks Ukrainian civilian targets every day. “If Putin is not isolated on the international stage, what incentive does Russia have to agree to a ceasefire?” the letter asks.

Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul sees it differently. He called the invitation a litmus test of whether Putin is ready for serious negotiations, while stressing that genuinely serious talks would also require a ceasefire. Canada’s foreign minister Anita Anand said her country does not plan to boycott the summit if Putin attends.

What next

The next step is a date for the technical meeting, which Washington is expected to propose. Whether Moscow will agree remains unclear. Ukrainian diplomats insist there are no public signs of Russian readiness for peace, which is why Kyiv keeps calling for tougher sanctions and political pressure.