Here’s the latest on the first trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and US as negotiators set plans for future meeting

By Mitchell McCluskey and Kosta Gak, CNN

(CNN) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday highlighted progress made by Russian, Ukrainian and American negotiators in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi, even as the path to achieving peace remains unclear.

“A lot was discussed, and it is important that the conversations were constructive,” Zelensky wrote on social media, adding, “The central focus of the discussions was the possible parameters for ending the war.”

The trilateral talks held on Friday and Saturday were the first time that officials from all three countries sat down together since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. One US official said the meeting marked a significant step forward after months of quiet diplomacy, stressing that while a final deal is not guaranteed, progress would not have been possible without face-to-face talks.

The diplomatic effort came as Russia launched its largest overnight aerial attack on Ukraine so far this year.

Though the two-day session did not yield a breakthrough, the parties signaled hope for a future deal.

“Provided there is readiness to move forward – and Ukraine is ready – further meetings will take place, potentially as early as next week,” Zelensky said.

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff similarly characterized the talks as “very constructive” and noted that “plans were made to continue conversations next week in Abu Dhabi.”

“President Trump and his entire team are dedicated to bringing peace to this war,” Witkoff said.

The next round of talks will begin in Abu Dhabi on February 1, US officials said.

On Sunday, Zelensky said that a document outlining security guarantees sought by Ukraine – a key issue for the country’s Ukraine’s postwar stability – is “100% ready.”

Kyiv is now hoping to set a time and place to sign the deal, he said.

“For us, security guarantees are primarily bilateral security guarantees with the US. The document is 100% ready. We expect our partners to be ready with the date and place when we will sign it,” Zelensky said at a news conference in Lithuania.

He added that the document will then need to be ratified by the US Congress and the Ukrainian parliament.

The US has led bilateral negotiations with Ukraine and Russia for months, working to resolve the outstanding issues as the fighting rages on.

In Abu Dhabi, the negotiators discussed a revised 20-point plan that addresses issues of territory, economy, security and other areas.

Territory remains key sticking point

Despite the progress touted by the US and Ukrainian sides, the divisive issue of territory continued to be a point of contention, with no clear resolution met.

Control of the eastern Ukrainian region known as the Donbas, made up of the coal-rich regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, has been a core demand of Russia.

After the talks, Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told state news agency TASS that Moscow wants to develop a plan that “fully corresponds to the fundamental understandings” reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump during their summit in Alaska last year.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that the issue of territories remains key for Moscow in the Ukraine peace negotiations.

“It’s no secret. It’s our consistent position, the position of our president, that the territorial issue, which is part of the ‘Anchorage formula,’ is of course of fundamental importance for the Russian side,” Peskov said.

That agreement provided that Ukraine would cede the remainder of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for a ceasefire.

Ahead of the Abu Dhabi talks, Peskov said Ukrainian armed forces must “leave Donbas, must withdraw from there; this is a very important condition.”

Ukraine has consistently rejected the notion of making territorial concessions for a peace deal.

In between the rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi, Russia maintained its strikes on Ukraine, unleashing a barrage of missile and drone attacks targeting the capital city of Kyiv and Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.

In Kyiv, at least one person died and four others were wounded, the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said.

Falling debris caused fires and damaged buildings, Klitschko said, with nearly 6,000 apartment blocks in Kyiv losing heat in the middle of a bitterly cold winter.

Minister of foreign affairs, Andrii Sybiha, accused Putin of “cynically” ordering the “barbaric attack” as the diplomatic process was unfolding in Abu Dhabi.

“Every such Russian strike on our energy infrastructure proves that there must be no delays in supplying air defenses. No blind eye can be turned to these strikes; they must be met with a strong response,” Zelensky said on Facebook.

Ukraine said it had struck several Russian targets overnight into Monday, including an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, which the Ukrainian General Staff said was “involved in supplying the aggressor’s armed forces.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said 34 drones were “intercepted” overnight in Krasnodar region, while the region’s operational headquarters said fires broke out at two “enterprises” due to falling drone fragments.

On Sunday, Zelensky said that Russia had used the peace process “to do everything possible” to gain full control of eastern Ukraine, something he said “they have not yet been able to do” on the battlefield.

He stressed that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be respected.

“We are fighting for our country – for what is ours. We are not fighting on foreign territory. What questions could there be for us?” the Ukrainian president said.

The US has pushed for Ukraine to make territorial concessions, which Trump has positioned as a necessary trade-off to reach a peace deal with Russia.

Zelensky acknowledged that finding common ground between two “fundamentally different positions” would require a compromise.

“These are the first steps towards finding that very compromise,” he added. “But for a compromise, all sides must be ready to compromise. Incidentally, this includes the American side as well.”

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CNN’s Christian Edwards, Ivana Kottasová, Kit Maher, Anna Chernova and Daria Tarasova-Markina contributed to this report.