Russia, Ukraine, and the United States start three-way talks to address ongoing conflict

Three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States opened Tuesday in the UAE as Washington made another push to end the war that followed Moscow's all-out invasion of its neighbor nearly five years ago. According to Associated Press the two-day session in the UAE's capital, Abu Dhabi, is the first such meeting since February. It will focus on establishing future security guarantees for the warring countries, the White House said before the discussions. U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who along with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is trying to broker a settlement, said that he believed that there were some good ideas how to bridge the differences between the two sides. In opening remarks, Ukraine's lead negotiator Rustem Yumuraz thanked the UAE for hosting the talks, the U.S. for leading the process and European partners for their involvement. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, noted at the start of the talks that the Russian delegation has become bigger and more professional. He expressed hope that the meeting will allow us to advance on the path towards peace in the interests of the people of Russia and the people of Ukraine. And especially I have gratitude to President Trump in giving us this honor, but also to President Putin, to President Zelensky for your courage. Your belief and trust in the UAE and the friendship you're showing today. We've had almost daily conversations with both sides and I think we've really identified, narrowed the gaps as to what we can get through and I think we have some good ideas as to how to bridge it and hopefully today we'll be able to have an open, frank, and fulsome dialogue for things tomorrow to try to further make progress. We have a Monday for President Zelensky to discuss all the issues our people are waiting to end this war, and we hope that we will achieve a lasting peace for Ukraine. It is security guarantees, and we will also focus on the objectives of this meeting to come with the results, with outcomes, to achieve this lasting peace. Thank you. We're hopeful that our today's meeting with those representative delegations, because they've become bigger and more professional, will allow us to make headway towards peace.