Russia and Ukraine are privately showing some flexibility on a possible exchange of territory, a US official said on Monday. The official briefed reporters in Washington ahead of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, Reuters reported. The talks begin on Tuesday as President Donald Trump steps up efforts to end the war.
In public, both sides have refused to budge on territory. Ukraine wants Russia pushed back to the original border. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants all of the Donbas region. The official said any land deal would likely come at the end of the talks. Other issues would be agreed first, including a postwar security setup.
Security guarantees for Ukraine will be a major topic, the official said. These include a possible NATO-style Article 5 defence for Kyiv. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will lead the two-day mediation. The official said they could travel to Russia after the talks to meet Putin.
The official said the talks would take time, but the US side is cautiously optimistic about progress. "This is the first time I feel like we see real desire on the Russian side to finish," the official said, according to Reuters.
Europe sees things differently. G7 foreign ministers meet in Paris this week to discuss how Europe can play a bigger role in the US peace effort, Semafor reported. European powers fear the Abu Dhabi talks could push Kyiv to accept a bad deal.
Semafor reported that Russia's battlefield progress has stalled and its losses keep rising. Hacked records showed Moscow believes almost 400,000 Russians have died in the war. Norway's prime minister, who spoke to Putin last month, warned that the Russian leader is not interested in peace.