• Kremlin says diplomacy to end Ukraine war gained momentum.
• US envoy Witkoff leads talks with Putin, calls “useful” by Kremlin.
• Moscow says it prefers diplomacy but will pursue goals on battlefield.
  

MOSCOW: Ukrainian, US, and Russian officials will hold security talks in the United Arab Emirates today (Friday), the Kremlin said, following a meeting of top US negotiators with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on a US-drafted plan to end the Ukraine war.

Diplomatic efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have gained pace in recent months, though Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.

US negotiators, led by envoy Steve Witkoff, talked with the Russian leader in Moscow into the early hours of Friday, according to a Kremlin statement.

Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters their discussions had been “useful in every respect”.

Witkoff and the US team are next flying to Abu Dhabi, where talks are expected to continue.

A Russian delegation, headed by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, will also head there “in the coming hours”, according to Ushakov.

“It was agreed that the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security issues will take place today in Abu Dhabi,” Ushakov added.

“We are genuinely interested in resolving [the conflict] through political and diplomatic means,” he said, but added: “Until that happens, Russia will continue to achieve its objectives… on the battlefield.”

Witkoff previously said he believed the two sides were “down to one issue”, without elaborating.

Video published by the Kremlin showed a smiling Putin shaking hands with Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House advisor Josh Gruenbaum.

The high-stakes meeting came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a draft deal was “nearly, nearly ready” and that he and Trump had agreed on the issue of post-war security guarantees.

He also said the UK and France had already committed to forces on the ground.

Zelensky said Ukraine’s delegation at the UAE meeting would be led by Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, Rustem Umerov, and would include Lieutenant General Andriy Gnatov, the chief of staff of Ukrainian armed forces.

Russia, which occupies around 20% of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of the country’s eastern Donbas region as part of a deal.

But Kyiv has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and says it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter Russia from launching a renewed assault.

Europe ‘fragmented’

The full details of the upcoming talks in the United Arab Emirates have not been released, and it is not clear whether the Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet face-to-face.

Zelensky said these talks would last two days.

Trump repeated on Wednesday his oft-stated belief that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal.

“I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid — that goes for both of them,” he said after delivering a speech at Davos.

Zelensky, at his address in Davos, blasted the EU’s lack of “political will” in countering Putin in a fiery address.

“Instead of becoming a truly global power, Europe remains a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers,” he said.

Trump’s dramatic foreign policy pivots including a recent bid to take over Greenland — an autonomous Danish territory — have stirred worries in Europe about whether Washington can be trusted as a reliable security partner.

In his speech, Zelensky criticised Europe for pinning hopes on the United States defending them in case of aggression.

“Europe looks lost trying to convince the US President to change,” Zelensky said.

Russian strikes this week have left most of Kyiv without electricity, with residents of 4,000 buildings without heat in sub-zero temperatures.

Russia, which launched its Ukraine offensive in February 2022, says its strikes are aimed at energy infrastructure fuelling Ukraine’s “military-industrial complex”.

Kyiv says the strikes are a war crime designed to wear down its civilian population.

• Trump launches Peace Board hours after axing Canada invite.
• Trump says Peace Board members must pay $1bn each.
• UK, France decline to join US-led Peace Board for now.

US President Donald Trump withdrew on Thursday an invitation for Canada to join his Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts.

Trump’s about-face follows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he openly decried powerful nations using economic integration as weapons and tariffs as leverage.

“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post directed at Carney.

Neither Carney’s office nor the White House immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment on Thursday evening.

Last week, Carney’s office said he had been invited to serve on the board and planned to accept.

Carney received a rare standing ovation in Davos after the speech, in which he urged nations to accept the end of a rules-based global order.

Canada, which recently signed a trade deal with China, can show how “middle powers” might act together to avoid being victimised by American hegemony, he added.

Trump retorted that Canada “lives because of the United States,” and told listeners in Davos that Carney should be grateful for the United States’ previous largesse.

“Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” he added, addressing Carney directly.

The withdrawal of Canada’s invitation came hours after Trump officially launched the board, which was initially meant to cement a Gaza ceasefire.

Permanent members must help fund the board with a payment of $1 billion each, according to Trump.

“Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do,” Trump said in Switzerland on Thursday. “And we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations.

The board’s establishment was endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, and UN spokesperson Rolando Gomez said on Thursday that UN engagement with the board would only be in that context.

Member nations include Argentina, Bahrain, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey. Other US allies, such as Britain, France and Italy, have indicated they will not join for now.

WASHINGTON: Photographs of fresh bruising on Donald Trump’s hand raised eyebrows on Thursday, but the 79-year-old US president dismissed renewed speculation over his health, saying he had simply hit a table.

Trump has been seen with frequent bruising on his right hand since returning to the White House last year, often concealing it with bandages and make-up.

The White House has said it is due to a combination of frequent handshaking and the aspirin he takes for his cardiovascular health, which can lead to a tendency to bruise easily.

However, photos on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland showed dark bruises in a similar location – but this time on Trump’s left hand.

The images, taken while Trump was at an inaugural ceremony for his global “Board of Peace” initiative, quickly spread on social media.

“I clipped it on the table,” Trump told journalists on Air Force One when asked about the bruising, adding: “I would say, take aspirin if you like your heart, but don’t take aspirin if you don’t want to have a little bruising.”

The White House had earlier played down any concerns, giving the same explanation for the bruise.

Photos from early in the “Board of Peace” event and yesterday show no bruising on the left hand.

Speculation has swirled about Trump’s fitness given his age – he is the oldest person to take office as president – the hand bruising, swelling in his legs, and several apparent moments of dozing off during public events.

The administration disclosed last summer that Trump’s leg swelling had been diagnosed as a symptom of chronic venous insufficiency – a common condition in which faulty vein valves allow blood to pool, causing swelling, cramping and skin changes.

It can be managed with medication or targeted procedures.

An unannounced hospital visit last year added to suspicions of secrecy around his health.

Weeks afterwards, Trump’s doctor said MRI imaging had shown the president to be in “excellent” cardiovascular health.