Ukraine-Russia talks: US says key territorial decisions may come within weeks
Photo: US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker (Getty Images)
Whether Ukraine and Russia will be able to reach an agreement on the territories will become clear in the coming weeks, says US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker on Newsmax.
Whitaker emphasized, citing US special envoy Steve Witkoff, that all disputes between Ukraine and Russia boil down to territorial issues.
According to the US ambassador, it will become clear in the coming weeks whether the two countries will be able to reach an agreement.
Whitaker added that the aggressor country continues to lose “thousands soldiers a day.”
“I saw a publicly available reporting that said that casualties on both sides combined since the war started is 2 million human beings. That's catastrophic,” he said.
President Trump is the only leader capable of bringing Russia and Ukraine to the table for the final stages of negotiations. We always knew these talks would be challenging, and this Administration is committed to ending the bloodshed. pic.twitter.com/AQbDYEXdyN
— U.S. Ambassador to NATO (@USAmbNATO) January 30, 2026
Abu Dhabi talks
The next round of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine is scheduled for February 1 in Abu Dhabi.
According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will not participate in these negotiations. The meeting will take place only between Ukraine and Russia.
On Thursday, January 29, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the composition of Russia's delegation at the talks indicates that Russia has no serious intentions to achieve peace.
According to media reports, the administration of US President Donald Trump told Ukraine that the provision of security guarantees depends on Kyiv's flexibility on the territorial issue.
Reuters reported that, according to the US, Ukraine must first sign a peace agreement with Russia. Only after that will Kyiv receive security guarantees.
Last weekend, on January 23-24, the first trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the US took place in Abu Dhabi, which received positive assessments from the American side, as well as from Kyiv.
A source at RBC-Ukraine said that the meeting on January 23-24 was exploratory in nature. In fact, the parties familiarized themselves with each other's positions.
