Jan 31 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukraine was waiting for more information from the United States about further peace talks and expected new meetings to take place next week.
Zelenskiy’s statement during his nightly video address appeared to suggest that a meeting scheduled for Sunday in the United Arab Emirates between representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the United States would not take place. The three sides held a round of talks a week ago.
“We are in constant communication with the American side and are expecting specific details from them regarding further meetings,” Zelenskiy said.
“Ukraine is ready to work in all working formats. It is important that there be results and that the meetings take place. We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them.”
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff led a team of representatives in talks in Florida on Saturday with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev and described the discussions as “productive and constructive.”
The U.S. has been spearheading diplomatic efforts to end the war, launched nearly four years ago by the Kremlin’s invasion of its smaller neighbour.
Witkoff has singled out the question of territory as the key to making progress in the negotiations, with Kyiv rejecting Moscow’s demand that it cede all of the Donbas region, including areas its army has not captured.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said this week that land was not the sole key issue under discussion but did not identify other unresolved issues.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; editing by Diane Craft, Rod Nickel)
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