Hopes of breaking the long stalemate in Ukraine rose after US President Donald Trump said Washington was sensing a “very strong inclination” to bring the war to a close, arguing that both sides were “tired of fighting.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House on the eve of US-led, three-sided talks in Abu Dhabi, Mr Trump said diplomacy was already under way. “We’re having a very good conversation about that in Abu Dhabi,” he said, ahead of negotiations scheduled to begin tomorrow.
Mr Trump pledged to end the conflict when he took office in January 2025, yet the effort to stop a war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 has so far proved difficult.
“We’re also seeing a very strong inclination to end Russia and Ukraine (war). We’re involved in that,” Mr Trump said.
Behind the scenes, both Moscow and Kyiv have signalled some room to manoeuvre on one of the most contentious issues: territory. A US official said the two sides were privately showing flexibility on a possible exchange of territory as the Abu Dhabi talks approach.
Briefing reporters ahead of the meetings, the official said the negotiations will also focus heavily on security guarantees for Ukraine, including discussion of a NATO-style Article 5 defence for Kyiv.
Publicly, both governments have maintained hard lines. Ukraine has said it wants Russian forces pushed back to the original border between the two countries, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to secure all of the Donbas region.
Even so, the US official said there were indications in private discussions that each side could be open to compromise.
The official said any territorial agreement would likely be addressed at the end of negotiations, after other elements are settled — including a postwar security architecture.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, said Ukraine’s position at the table was improving as a result of battlefield successes and growing Russian losses.
The Abu Dhabi meetings will be the first since February aimed at moving closer to an end to the war, now in its more than four-and-a-half-year stretch.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are to lead US mediation efforts in the talks, which are scheduled to last two days.
According to the US official, the envoys could travel to Russia at some point after the Abu Dhabi talks to meet with Mr Putin.
While stressing that negotiations will take time, the official said the US side held cautious optimism that the process can produce progress.
Diplomacy has unfolded alongside renewed tensions between Kyiv and Washington. Mr Zelensky has clashed with Mr Trump in recent weeks over the US president’s decisions to buy Russian diesel, suspend some sanctions and urge Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Mr Trump has also called for Mr Zelensky to be replaced.
On the ground, the war’s 1,200km front line has changed little for months, with Russian forces controlling about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
