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US President Donald Trump said the country was engaged in constructive talks with both Russia and Ukraine.
“We’re having very positive, very constructive talks about the situation in Ukraine. We’re talking to the Russians and talking to the Ukrainian leadership. I think something will happen, hopefully a major change in things,” Trump said at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On the Ukrainian side, in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his readiness to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, if that is the only option to end the Ukrainian conflict.
“If that is the only way we can bring peace to the Ukrainian people, we will certainly do it, we are ready to participate in this meeting,” Mr. Zelensky declared.
Mr Zelensky’s statement appeared to reflect a marked change in his views. Previously, Mr Zelensky had repeatedly refused to negotiate with Mr Putin and even signed a decree banning all negotiations with Moscow and the Russian president.
Last month, he eased the ban, keeping it in place for Ukrainian officials other than himself. However, the original 2022 decree stated that negotiations with Russia were impossible, without specifying who or what organizations were barred from participating.
Last week, President Putin reiterated Moscow’s position that President Zelensky lacks the legitimacy to sign any agreements because his term ends in May 2024 and there is no constitutional mechanism to extend it. However, Putin also said he was ready to send negotiators to discuss with Mr Zelensky if he was willing to discuss it.
The Russian president also noted that Ukraine's ban on negotiations remains a major obstacle to any substantive talks between Kiev and Moscow. Putin also pledged to send a team of legal experts to assess the legality of any Ukrainian negotiating team to determine whether it has the authority to conclude an agreement.
Citing sources familiar with the talks, Reuters reported on February 4 that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been identified as potential locations for a summit between President Trump and President Putin. This development comes after recent statements by Mr. Trump expressing his intention to quickly end the conflict in Ukraine and his willingness to meet with Mr. Putin.
While there is no confirmation that the US and Russia are directly involved in the upcoming summit, senior Russian officials have recently made visits to both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have maintained a neutral stance throughout the Ukraine conflict, while maintaining dialogue with both Russia and Ukraine. This neutral stance, coupled with the countries’ good relations with both President Trump and President Putin, makes them ideal candidates to host the summit.
The choice of the summit venue is believed to have been heavily influenced by the current geopolitical context. Traditional Western venues were deemed unsuitable, given the clear support for Ukraine in the region.
Both President Trump and his counterpart Putin have cultivated good relationships with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the first foreign head of state Trump spoke to after taking office. In a video address last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump praised bin Salman as a “terrific guy.”
Last September, President Putin also expressed gratitude to Crown Prince bin Salman for facilitating the largest prisoner exchange between the US and Russia since the Cold War.
Washington and Moscow have not commented on the potential meeting between the US and Russian leaders.
