A flurry of diplomacy around the United Nations General Assembly has produced the clearest sign yet of a possible new negotiating track to end Russia's war on Ukraine. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States has proposed that the United Arab Emirates host a trilateral meeting between Kyiv and Moscow to discuss ways to end the four-and-a-half-year war.
A technical-level meeting in the Emirates
"The American side has proposed... meeting at a technical level in a three-way format," Zelensky told reporters during a briefing via WhatsApp on Friday. He said Kyiv is awaiting a proposal from the United States regarding the date, adding that Washington had suggested the Emirates as a possible location for the talks.
The announcement follows a week of intense diplomatic activity in New York. Zelensky held talks with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where the two discussed ways to bring an end to the war launched by Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion. After that meeting, Ukrainian negotiators met with their American counterparts to work through specific details.
"We will inform and discuss these details with the European side, the Americans will talk to the Russians, and we will return in 10 days with either a new perspective or a result," Zelensky said.
Moscow signals it may engage
The Kremlin responded on Friday that a trilateral meeting with Ukraine and the United States could happen soon, a notable shift in tone from a government that has spent months insisting Kyiv is not a legitimate negotiating partner.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, addressing Russian journalists, said that all proposals for a settlement remained on the table but that Moscow still needed to assess what was in its own interest. At the same time, Putin claimed Russia had been ready to resume negotiations with Kyiv after last week's Russian parliamentary elections, but that Ukraine had instead launched attacks on Moscow and hit polling stations.
"They are the ones who started it. Everywhere, on every front. Are these playthings, child's play?" Putin told reporters, warning that Ukraine would have to feel Russia's retaliatory strikes. He argued that Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire came only after what he called Ukrainian provocations. "They are all on the table. It's all possible," he said. "But after everything they have done, we will still have to think carefully about what we need to do in response."
Winter pressure and wider diplomacy
Zelensky said he was still awaiting feedback from the American team, particularly regarding efforts to de-escalate the conflict ahead of winter, when both sides' energy infrastructure becomes a strategic target. He warned European partners that Russia would continue its hybrid attacks against them and said Ukraine had offered its assistance in countering them — a claim the Kremlin denied being behind sabotage incidents in European countries in recent months.
The Ukrainian leader also revealed he had asked Trump to raise the Ukraine war during his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a state visit to the United States. Beijing's role remains pivotal: it is one of the few major powers with real leverage over Moscow.
Whether the proposed UAE meeting produces substance or becomes another diplomatic gesture will likely depend on the American shuttle work of the coming days — and on whether either side is prepared to move beyond its public positions.
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