US Proposes UAE-Hosted Ukraine-Russia Talks, Zelensky Says

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on September 25 that Washington has floated early-stage, technical-level three-way negotiations involving Kyiv, Moscow and the US, pointing to the United Arab Emirates as a possible location, even as other diplomatic and military threads related to the war kept developing.⁴²

Proposed venue and format

Zelensky said Washington had put forward the idea of organizing a three-way technical-level gathering, noting that Ukraine was still awaiting a proposed date from the US side. "As for the venue, the United States has proposed the UAE," he said.⁴²

According to Reuters, a trilateral meeting involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States at the technical level could take place soon. The Kremlin, cited by the same report, said such a meeting could happen soon.⁵

Kyiv Post reported that earlier sessions of the three-way negotiations took place in the UAE during January and in Switzerland the following month. A fourth round planned for March in Abu Dhabi was postponed, the outlet reported.²

Ukrainska Pravda reported that Moscow left open the possibility of restarting the three-way peace negotiations, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that no conditions had been set for advancing toward a peace framework.⁴

Parallel diplomatic contacts

According to Kyiv Post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio disclosed that Vladimir Putin had been invited to December's G20 gathering in Miami, framed as a chance for him to interact with Trump and other heads of state. During the UN General Assembly gathering in New York, Rubio held a separate meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.²

The Kremlin initially welcomed the invitation, but Peskov said it was "too early to discuss Putin traveling to Miami." Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia regards Abu Dhabi as a priority venue for any resumption of negotiations, according to Kyiv Post.²

In a separate development, Putin sat down with American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow for over three hours to discuss steps the US might take toward ending the conflict. Witkoff called the talks productive and noted that Moscow had presented fresh proposals, while Kushner spoke of a wider package aimed at achieving peace.²

Kyiv Post reported that a separate American delegation visited Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian officials, with security advisers from the UK, France and Germany taking part in portions of those talks. Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev was in the United States on September 24 discussing economic cooperation with Witkoff and Kushner, which The Arab Weekly said was tied to the UAE talks proposal.²⁷

Dispute over refinery strikes

According to the Kyiv Independent, Trump has pressed Zelensky to scale back Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, telling him "You gotta take it easy on the refineries." Trump linked the strikes to a global surge in diesel prices, saying "This isn't really a Middle Eastern problem; this is more of a Russia problem."¹

Trump said Zelensky had told him Ukraine would probably ease the attacks, quoting himself as saying "Well, we'll probably do that." A Ukrainian official told the outlet that Ukraine would only halt refinery strikes if Russia agreed to an energy truce, describing any deal as needing to go both ways.¹

Studies cited by the Kyiv Independent show the US-Israeli war with Iran affected diesel supplies more than Ukraine's strikes. Figures from Ukraine's KSE Institute showed Persian Gulf export volumes declining by 152 million barrels from March through August, compared with a smaller 68-million-barrel decline in Russian exports during that stretch. Analyst Luke Wickenden of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said "Russian exports are down by a third, and the drop is equivalent to around 4% of the world's seaborne diesel and gasoil trade."¹

Trump claimed on September 14 that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to an energy ceasefire, but neither side confirmed the deal, according to the Kyiv Independent. Zelensky said Kyiv was ready for such a ceasefire, stating "We are ready. I'm not sure Russia is ready as of today." The outlet pointed out that thousands of people in Kyiv lost power and heating last winter, with some neighborhoods going without electricity for weeks, and noted that Russia had launched large-scale strikes on Ukraine's power infrastructure.¹

Hybrid attacks and the Moscow question

Arabian Business reported that after being updated on the technical-level three-way arrangement, Zelensky cautioned European allies that Russia was expected to keep carrying out hybrid attacks on the continent. The Kremlin denied involvement in sabotage incidents in European countries, a claim disputed by the same report.⁶

At the UN General Assembly, a Russian media representative shouted at Zelensky asking when he would come to Moscow; Zelensky replied "On a missile," according to Ukrainska Pravda.⁴