Zelensky, after Trump talks, says territorial issue still unsolved

DAVOS, January 23 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky said after talks with US President Donald Trump in Davos that the terms of security guarantees for Ukraine had been finalized, but that the vital issue of territory in its war with Russia remains unsolved.

In what he said was a positive sign of progress in long-running peace talks to end the four-year conflict, Zelensky said negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, and the US would hold trilateral meetings for the first time in Abu Dhabi on Friday and Saturday. He also said a deal was almost ready on economic recovery after the war with Russia, a key element of Kyiv-backed proposals to push back on an earlier US peace plan seen as heavily favoring Moscow.

BOTH SAY TALKS WERE POSITIVE

Zelensky and Trump - who have met half a dozen times since Trump returned to the White House last year and upended US policy on Ukraine - both said Thursday's talks were positive. "I think the meeting with President Zelensky was good. It's an ongoing process," Trump told reporters, saying that US envoys were heading for talks in Moscow on Thursday. Asked what his message was for Putin, Trump replied: "The war has to end."

Zelensky, who did not indicate he discussed territory with Trump on Thursday, had said earlier this week he would only travel to Davos if he could sign agreements with Trump on US security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding for Ukraine. Zelensky has been saddled with an energy crisis at home from Russian air strikes that have left millions of Ukrainians across swathes of the capital and other regions without power and heating.

Zelensky described Russia's months-long onslaught as an attempt by Putin to freeze Ukrainians to death. Invoking Trump's operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to face charges before a US court, he wondered aloud why Putin was not yet on trial.

US envoy for Ukraine Steve Witkoff had told an audience at the World Economic Forum earlier on Thursday that good progress was being made in peace talks, after he met with Ukrainian and Russian officials in Davos. "If both sides want to solve this, we're going to get it solved," Witkoff said.

Source: kyivpost.com