UPDATE - Informal peace talks between Russia, Ukraine, US begin in Abu Dhabi

UPDATES WITH BACKGROUND; EDITS

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Informal trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the US have begun in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, according to media reports on Friday.

Citing remarks by Ukraine’s Presidential Office to journalists, the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that there is no official start time for the talks, though some teams are already on site and are holding informal discussions.

It also reported that Ukraine's presidential communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, explained the talks to be conversations involving various "non-formal" representatives, while not clarifying further.

Lytvyn added that, therefore, these conversations cannot be considered as a regular political meeting, which he said happens within some clear framework.

Earlier, Sky News reported that the negotiations, supposed to be the first direct trilateral peace talks since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022, have "already started," though it further noted it is not yet certain if representatives from both sides are in the same room.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the trilateral talks during a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. Earlier that day, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said he would head to Abu Dhabi after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

He said at an event in Davos that “a lot of progress” had been made in Russia-Ukraine peace talks, and that negotiations were down to one last issue.

On Friday, Zelenskyy told journalists that the issue of the Donbas region will be “key” during the trilateral talks, expressing: "It will be discussed and the modalities will be discussed, as the three parties see it, in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow."

Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed Russia's position to reporters at a press briefing, arguing the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the region is a "very important condition" for a peace settlement.