US threatens exit from Ukraine talks if deadlines missed

US officials have reportedly set a deadline of May 15 for negotiations aimed at resolving the ongoing situation in Ukraine, Ukrainian member of parliament Oleksiy Honcharenko said.

Honcharenko shared the information on his Telegram channel, citing “his sources.” He warned that if key agreements are not reached by this date, the United States could withdraw entirely from the negotiation process.

As of now, no official statements have been issued by the US government regarding the reported deadline or its position on the talks.

Ukraine, Russia and the US will send negotiating teams back to Abu Dhabi for further talks aimed at ending Moscow's nearly four-year-old war on its neighbour.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said meetings last week, the first known trilateral discussions, focused on military and political issues, but key areas of disagreement between the two warring sides remained.

Now, delegations from all three countries will return to the table later this week in a bid to break the deadlock.

"The meetings covered a range of important issues — primarily military, essential to bringing the war to an end," Zelenskyy said.

Officials revealed few details of the talks held on January 24 and January 25, which were part of a yearlong effort by the Trump administration to steer the sides toward a peace deal and end almost four years of all-out war.

While Ukrainian and Russian officials have agreed in principle with Washington’s calls for a compromise, Moscow and Kyiv differ deeply over what an agreement should look like.

US President Donald Trump has set out deadlines for an agreement and threatened additional sanctions on Moscow, but Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently has not budged from his public demands.

Negotiators will return to the United Arab Emirates on February 1 for more talks, according to a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The weekend talks covered a broad range of military and economic matters and included the possibility of a ceasefire before a comprehensive deal, the official said.

By Vafa Guliyeva