Putin holds lengthy talks with US representatives

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held what the Kremlin described as “substantive, constructive and frank” talks with senior US representatives, as Moscow and Washington step up diplomatic efforts focused on the war in Ukraine.

The four-hour meeting at the Kremlin brought together Putin, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

According to the Russian president’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, discussions were “useful for both sides” and covered a wide range of international and bilateral issues.

Ushakov said the central focus of the talks was a possible settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. He confirmed that Russia, the United States and Ukraine had agreed to convene the first meeting of a trilateral security working group later on January 23 in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

The Russian delegation to the talks will be led by Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, and will include senior defence ministry officials. Ushakov said President Putin had issued “specific instructions” to the Russian team ahead of the meeting.

Alongside the trilateral format, separate Russian–US discussions on economic issues are also scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi. These talks will be co-chaired by Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s special presidential representative, and Witkoff.

Ushakov said US representatives briefed Moscow on recent contacts held in Davos, including a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They also shared assessments of consultations that took place in December and January in Florida and several European capitals.

According to the Kremlin, the talks reiterated Russia’s position that a lasting settlement in Ukraine would not be possible without resolving territorial issues “based on the Anchorage formula”, though no further details were provided.

Other topics discussed included the proposed Peace Council for Gaza, the situation surrounding Greenland and broader plans for the future of Russian–American relations. Ushakov said discussions would continue on a proposal to allocate up to $1 billion to the Peace Council using Russian assets frozen under the previous US administration.

He added that US officials were already considering potential areas of cooperation with Russia that could be pursued once the conflict in Ukraine is resolved, signalling cautious optimism about improved relations between the two countries.

By Aghakazim Guliyev