Post #3272

⚡️Comment by Aide to the President Yury Ushakov regardingPresident Vladimir Putin’s meeting with US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff(January 23, 2026) Read in full 💬Yury Ushakov: President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum also attended the meeting. The latter is a White House Senior Advisor who specialises in economic matters. This was his first time joining the US team. 🤝 The talks lasted about four hours and were exceptionally in-depth, constructive, and, I should say, constituted an extremely frank and heart-to-heart conversation. As you know, our counterparts arrived from Davos after taking part in a series of events together with President Donald Trump, including those concerning the Ukraine settlement. These meetings literally lasted until it was time for them to leave for Moscow. They provided first-hand accounts of these events and shared their impressions, as well as their latest thoughts and assessments regarding the meeting between the President of the United States and Zelensky in Davos. <...> An agreement on the next step in this direction has been reached. An agreement was reached to hold the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security matters today, this Friday, January 23, in Abu Dhabi, with Russia, the United States and Ukraine. At the same time, Abu Dhabi will also host a meeting of the heads of the bilateral working group on economic matters. This bilateral group was formed by Russia and the United States, led by Kirill Dmitriev and Steve Witkoff. Our negotiating team on security matters has already been formed and will depart for the Emirates in a few hours. The group includes senior officials from the Defence Ministry, led by Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff Admiral Kostyukov. I would also like to inform you that the President of Russia has given our delegation specific instructions based on today's conversation with the United States. Importantly, the participants in the conversation between the President of Russia and the Americans reaffirmed the fact that: ☝️ achieving a lasting settlement is unlikely without addressing the territorial issue based on the formula agreed upon in Anchorage. Vladimir Putin has emphasised Russia’s sincere commitment to settling the Ukraine crisis by political and diplomatic means. However, as long as this is not the case, Russia will persist in its consistent effort to achieve the special military operation’s goals on the battlefield, where Russia’s Armed Forces hold the strategic initiative. During the meeting at the Kremlin, we also discussed Donald Trump’s idea of a Board of Peace, a host of regional matters and the Greenland issue. While exchanging views on the Board of Peace, we emphasised our readiness to transfer US$1 billion from Russia’s assets frozen under the previous US administration to its budget. The remaining Russian assets frozen in the US can be used for rebuilding the territories damaged during the hostilities after a peace agreement is signed between Russia and Ukraine. Discussions on this issue will continue in the bilateral economic group. I would like to note that the further development of bilateral Russian-US relations was discussed conceptually, considering the vast potential for cooperation in various spheres. American representatives are already considering certain plans that could be implemented after the settlement of the Ukraine crisis. <...> Overall, as I mentioned, the meeting that has just ended at the Kremlin was beneficial in every sense for both us and the American Side. It was decided that the Russian and American Sides will maintain close contact on Ukraine and other issues. #RussiaUSA