Zelenskyy says US security guarantees document is ‘100% ready’ for signing

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a long-anticipated document on U.S. security guarantees is “100% ready” for signing, with Kyiv now waiting for its American partners to confirm the date and place before the agreement moves to ratification in both the U.S. Congress and the Ukrainian parliament.

“For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States. The document is 100% ready,” Zelenskyy said Sunday at a joint press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, with the presidents of Lithuania and Poland, according to a translation of his remarks from Reuters.

Zelenskyy reiterated at the press conference that Ukraine views membership in the European Union as another core security guarantee and is aiming to join the bloc by 2027, the Ukrainian president’s office said in a statement on its website.

His remarks come after Ukraine, Russia and the United States held trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi for two days over the weekend.

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Zelenskyy said on X that the discussions, which involved political and military representatives from all three sides, were “constructive” and focused on potential parameters for ending his country’s war with Russia.

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The talks in the United Arab Emirates followed a meeting in Moscow on Thursday between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and head of the Federal Acquisition Service Josh Gruenbaum.

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the “extremely frank” discussions lasted roughly four hours and included U.S. officials updating Moscow on their recent conversations with Ukrainian and European leaders, according to a summary of the meeting from the Kremlin.

Territorial issues remain a key obstacle in the negotiations, with Moscow pressing Kyiv to relinquish parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russian forces do not fully control.

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U.S. officials told Axios that negotiations examined the full range of unresolved issues, from Russia’s territorial demands in the Donbas to control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and potential steps to prevent a return to fighting.

Another U.S. official told the outlet a second round of talks is scheduled to take place on Feb. 1.

Zelenskyy touts ‘constructive’ trilateral talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday described recent trilateral talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi as “constructive,” saying the meetings marked the first format of their kind in some time and focused on potential parameters for ending Moscow’s war.

Zelenskyy said the talks, which were hosted by the United Arab Emirates over two days, involved political and military representatives from all three sides and addressed security-related issues, including the need for American monitoring and oversight.

“A lot was discussed, and it is important that the conversations were constructive,” he wrote on X, noting the delegations could have further meetings as early as next week. “As a result of the meetings held over these days, all sides agreed to report back in their capitals on each aspect of the negotiations and to coordinate further steps with their leaders.”

The Abu Dhabi talks followed a meeting in Moscow on Thursday between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum, the head of the Federal Acquisition Service.

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Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the “extremely frank” discussions lasted roughly four hours and included U.S. officials updating Moscow on their recent conversations with Ukrainian and European leaders.

“Importantly, the participants in the conversation between the President of Russia and the Americans reaffirmed the fact that bringing about a lasting settlement would be unlikely without addressing the territorial issue based on the formula as agreed in Anchorage,” Ushakov said, according to a summary of the meeting from the Kremlin.

Territorial issues remain a key obstacle in the negotiations, with Moscow pressing Kyiv to relinquish parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russian forces do not fully control.

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The diplomatic efforts come as Russia continues its strikes across Ukraine, targeting the country’s energy sector, critical infrastructure and residential areas.

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Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russian forces had launched more than 1,700 attack drones, over 1,380 guided aerial bombs and 69 missiles in the past week alone.

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The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said ahead of the trilateral talks that it was deploying 447 emergency generators to help restore power to hospitals, shelters and critical services, as more than one million Ukrainians face outages amid freezing temperatures.

“The EU will not let Russia freeze Ukraine into submission and will continue helping Ukrainians get through this winter,” the commission said.

Russia, Ukraine to discuss territory as Trump says both sides ‘want to make a deal’

The U.S., Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to discuss one of the major sticking points stopping a deal to end the nearly four-year war: territorial disputes. The talks in Abu Dhabi are the first trilateral talks since 2022.

The trilateral sit-down comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump in Davos and Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s meeting with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Witkoff and Kushner traveled to the UAE for the talks after their meeting with Putin in Moscow on Thursday.

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Zelenskyy and Putin are under increasing pressure to reach a peace deal as the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s invasion approaches and President Donald Trump pushes to end the war.

While Russia has demanded Ukraine cede the Donbas, Zelenskyy has stood firm in his opposition to making land concessions, though the discussions in Abu Dhabi suggest that he could be ready to negotiate. Putin is demanding Ukraine surrender the 20% it holds of the Donetsk region of the Donbas, according to Reuters.

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“The question of Donbas is key. It will be discussed how the three sides… see this in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow,” Zelenskyy told reporters via WhatsApp, according to Reuters. The outlet added that an aide for Zelenskyy said the talks are expected to continue Saturday.

The envoys are meeting as Ukrainians face below-freezing temperatures after Russian strikes damaged the country’s power supply.

Maxim Timchenko, the head of Ukraine’s top private power producer, told Reuters that the situation was nearing a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

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While speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Trump was asked if the trilateral meeting could lead to one with himself, Putin and Zelenskyy. He would not commit but said that “any time we meet, it’s good.” He also expressed doubts about whether Putin wanted to take over all of Ukraine.

“What’s happened here is there were times when Putin didn’t want to make a deal, times when Zelenskyy didn’t want to make a deal, and it was opposite times. Now, I think they both want to make a deal. We’ll find out,” Trump said.

The president also acknowledged that the topics of the discussions that were happening had been debated for months.

Russian oil tanker, the Grinch, intercepted as US, allies escalate sanctions crackdown

The French navy intercepted a Russian oil tanker in the Mediterranean suspected of operating as part of Moscow’s shadow fleet, a network of falsely-flagged vessels used to export oil and avoid Western sanctions, according to reports.

President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that French forces had boarded and searched the tanker, which is subject to international sanctions. 

The ship was reportedly sailing from Murmansk, in northern Russia, under the Comoros flag.

Writing on X, Macron said the operation took place on the high seas in the Mediterranean with the support of several allied countries.

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The French president added that the vessel had been diverted for further checks.

The tanker, identified as the Grinch, was intercepted between the southern coast of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco in the western Mediterranean, French maritime police said. 

The Associated Press reported the interception.

France and the U.K. gathered and shared intelligence on the vessel, according to French military officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

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The interception is the latest in a growing number of Russian-linked vessels stopped by U.S. and European authorities in recent months as Western powers intensify efforts to disrupt Russia’s oil exports.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, in early January, U.S. forces seized another sanctioned tanker in the Atlantic Ocean.

U.S. European Command (EUCOM) announced the seizure of the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker in the North Atlantic Sea.

France’s Mediterranean Maritime Prefecture said the team that boarded the Grinch Thursday had inspected the vessel and decided documents raised doubts about the regularity of the vessel’s flag.

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The tanker is being escorted by the French navy to an anchorage for additional verification.

The European Union has imposed 19 rounds of sanctions on Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

Despite those measures, Russia has continued to export millions of barrels of oil, mainly to China and India and often at discounted prices.

What has become known as a “shadow fleet” consists of hundreds of old and poorly regulated tankers that change names, ownership structures and flags to avoid detection and sanctions.

Maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence estimates the global shadow fleet at about 1,400 tankers, many of which are subject to U.S., British or European sanctions, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized European countries for not doing more to stop the transport of Russian oil using sanctioned vessels and which he says helps fund the war in Ukraine.

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“Why can [U.S. President Donald Trump] stop tankers of the ‘shadow fleet’ and seize their oil, while Europe can’t?” Zelensky asked at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday.

“Russian oil is transported right along the European coast. This oil funds the war against Ukraine. This oil helps destabilize Europe.”