Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that a U.S. security guarantees document for Ukraine is “100 per cent ready” after two days of talks involving representatives from Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia.
Chatting with journalists in Vilnius during a visit to Lithuania, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is waiting for its partners to set a signing date, after which the document would go to the U.S. Congress and Ukrainian parliament for ratification.
Zelenskyy also emphasized Ukraine’s push for European Union membership by 2027, calling it an “economic security guarantee.”
The Ukrainian leader described the talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, as likely the primary trilateral format in “quite a protracted while” that included not only diplomats but military representatives from all three sides. The talks, which began on Friday and continued Saturday, were the most recent aiming to finish Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion.
Zelenskyy acknowledged fundamental differences between Ukrainian and Russian positions, reaffirming territorial issues as a serious sticking point.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the globe, join for breaking news alerts delivered on to you after they occur.
“Our position regarding our territory — Ukraine’s territorial integrity — have to be respected,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a Ukraine settlement with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during marathon talks late Thursday. The Kremlin insisted that to achieve a peace deal, Kyiv must withdraw its troops from the areas within the east that Russia illegally annexed but has not fully captured.
Zelenskyy said the U.S. is trying to seek out a compromise, but that “all sides have to be ready for compromise.”
Negotiators will return to the UAE on Feb. 1 for the following round of talks, in response to a U.S. official. The recent talks covered a broad range of military and economic matters and included the potential for a ceasefire before a deal, the official said.
There was not yet an agreement on a final framework for oversight and operation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is occupied by Russia and is the most important in Europe.
© 2026 The Canadian Press