UAE hosts meeting between U.S., Russia and Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the future of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region would be a key focus as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States meet in Abu Dhabi for talks to end Russia's nearly four-year full-scale invasion.

The UAE's foreign ministry said the talks, which commenced on Friday and continued Saturday, were part of efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

UAE president Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan met on Friday with heads of the delegations of U.S., Russia and Ukraine participating in the trilateral talks hosted by UAE in its capital Abu Dhabi.

Bin Zayed said his country supports all initiatives and endeavours that seek to achieve a peaceful settlement to the Ukraine crisis in a manner that serves the interests of all parties and contributes to global peace and stability.

The talks Friday were the first known time officials from Trump's administration simultaneously met with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators.

Commenting on the first day of talks President Zelenskyy said "Ukrainian representatives report to me almost every hour. There has already been a conversation. This is important because there have not been such trilateral meetings for a long time. They are discussing the parameters for ending the war."

The talks follow a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent days, from Switzerland to the Kremlin, even though serious obstacles remain between both sides.

While Zelenskyy said in Davos Thursday that a potential peace deal was "nearly ready," certain sensitive sticking points - most notably those related to territorial issues - remain unresolved.