Zelensky: Next US-Brokered Peace Talks With Russia Likely in Abu Dhabi In Early March

Senior officials from the US and Ukraine held a meeting on February 26^th, in Geneva to discuss post-war reconstruction plans, security parameters and preparations for further trilateral negotiations involving Russia.

Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council Secretary, Rustem Umerov, who led the country’s four-person delegation in Geneva, said on Telegram that the Ukrainian delegation included lawmaker David Arakhamia, Oleksiy Sobolev and Daryna Marchak.

“Today in Geneva, we continue our work within the framework of the negotiation process. A bilateral meeting with the American delegation – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – has begun,” Umerov wrote in Telegram post on February 26^th, at the onset of bilateral discussions with the United States.

He said discussions would center on a “prosperity package,” describing it as a framework covering mechanisms for Ukraine’s economic support and recovery, instruments to attract investment and long-term cooperation arrangements.

Umerov added that the Ukrainian side would also prepare for the next round of trilateral negotiations that would include representatives of Russia, stressing the need for synchronizing the positions ahead of that stage.

An additional focus of the talks was humanitarian issues, including potential exchanges and efforts to secure the return of Ukrainian citizens.

In a subsequent Telegram post following the discussions, Umerov announced that another round of negotiations had been completed in Geneva. Per his account of the talks, the meetings took place in two formats: separate discussions with the American delegation and a trilateral meeting involving the United States and Switzerland.

After the talks concluded, Umerov said he and Arakhamia, together with Witkoff and Kushner, held a joint conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to brief him on the outcomes and outline further steps.

“The next round is being prepared,” Umerov wrote. He said work was underway to finalize security parameters, economic solutions and agreed positions that could serve as the basis for future agreements.

He added that preparations were aimed at making the next trilateral meeting involving the United States and Russia “as substantive as possible.”

Umerov said particular attention during the Geneva discussions was devoted to economic issues and long-term mechanisms to support Ukraine.

He stated that, together with members of the government’s economic team including Oleksiy Sobolev and American representatives, the sides worked in detail on a document related to Ukraine’s restoration.

The parties agreed that their teams would continue to work on the document in more detail, in particular on the future reconstruction and investment plan, he said.

The statements by Umerov did not provide further details on the content of the proposed security arrangements or the structure of the prosperity package.

Following the meeting between the US and Ukrainian officials, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his regular nightly address that the next round of US-brokered negotiations with Russia would likely take place in Abu Dhabi in early March and that there was “already more readiness for the next trilateral format”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Special Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, also held talks with US officials in Geneva on February 26^th, but he declined to comment on the outcome of the meeting per a report by Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

The report noted, though, that Dmitriev seemed pleased with the results of the meeting.

Tanmay Kadam is a geopolitical observer based in India. He has experience working as a Defense and International Affairs journalist for EurAsian Times. He can be contacted at tanmaykadam700@gmail.com.