Putin orders Zelenskyy to hand over territory for peace - as Trump's envoys engage in marathon overnight talks in Moscow
Starting today, there will be two days of trilateral meetings involving the US, Ukraine and Russia in the United Arab Emirates.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a settlement in Ukraine with US President Donald Trump's envoys during marathon overnight talks, and the Kremlin insisted that the territorial issue needs to be resolved to reach a peace deal.
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The Kremlin meeting, which lasted past 3am on Friday, came hours after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticised his European allies.
In his speech at Davos on Thursday, Mr Zelenskyy claimed Europe's slow and fragmented response to Russia's nearly four-year full-scale invasion has left Ukraine at the mercy of Mr Putin.
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who participated in Mr Putin's meeting with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, said "it was reaffirmed that reaching a long-term settlement can't be expected without solving the territorial issue".
His comments are a reference to Moscow's demand that Kyiv withdraws its troops from the areas in the east that Russia illegally annexed but never fully captured.
Russia's army has managed to capture about 20% of Ukraine since hostilities began in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of 2022.
But the battlefield gains along the roughly 600-mile front line have been costly for Moscow, and the Russian economy is feeling the consequences of the war and international sanctions.
Read more: Ukraine peace negotiations down to just one issue claims US envoy Steve Witkoff
Starting today, there will be two days of trilateral meetings involving the US, Ukraine and Russia in the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Zelenskyy suggested the meeting was organised at short notice, joking at Davos: "I hope that the Emirates know about it."
"Yes. Sometimes we have such surprises from our American side," he added.
The meeting follows Mr Zelenskyy's criticism of his European allies for what he portrayed as the continent's slow and inadequate response to Russia's invasion nearly four years ago
"Europe looks lost," Mr Zelenskyy said in his speech, urging the continent to become a global force. He contrasted Europe's response with Washington's bold steps in Venezuela and Iran.
The former comic actor referred to the movie Groundhog Day, in which the main character must relive the same day over and over again.
"Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words: Europe needs to know how to defend itself. A year has passed. And nothing has changed. We are still in a situation where I must say the same words again," Mr Zelenskyy said.
He said that Ukrainians too seem caught in that reality in the war, "repeating the same thing for weeks, months and, of course, for years. And yet that is exactly how we live now. It's our life."
His speech came after he met behind closed doors for about an hour in Davos with President Trump, who described the talks as "very good". Mr Zelenskyy called them "productive and meaningful".
European countries, which see their own future defence at stake in the war on its eastern flank, have provided financial, military and humanitarian support for Kyiv, but not all members of the 27-nation European Union are helping.
Ukraine also has been frustrated by political disagreements within Europe over how to deal with Russia, as well as the bloc's at times slow-moving responses.
Ukraine is short of money and, despite significantly boosting its own arms manufacturing, still needs Western weaponry.
It is also short-handed on the front line. Its defence minister last week reported some 200,000 troop desertions and draft-dodging by about two million Ukrainians.
Mr Zelenskyy is also striving to keep the world's attention focused on Ukraine despite other conflicts.
He chided Europe for being slow to act on key decisions, spending too little on defence, failing to stop Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers that are breaking international sanctions, and not using Russia's frozen assets in Europe to finance Ukraine.
Europe "still feels more like a geography, history, a tradition, not a real political force, not a great power", he said.
"Some Europeans are really strong, it's true, but many say we must stand strong, and they always want someone else to tell them how long they need to stand strong, preferably until the next election."