If the United States under President Trump starts acting as if it’s Russia, where does that leave President Vladimir V. Putin?

Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. envoys are meeting in the United Arab Emirates, the first known instance that officials from the Trump administration have sat down with both countries as part of Washington’s push to end Moscow’s nearly 4-year-old invasion.

The Kremlin stuck to its demand that Ukraine withdraw all its forces from the eastern Donbas region ahead of the talks in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

The threat came as hours of late night 'peace talks' involving Putin and Trump envoys ended with the Kremlin ruling out ending the war in Ukraine - unless it surrendered Donbas

The U.S.-led push to end Russia’s nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine gained momentum late last year and is moving ahead in 2026, with leaders, diplomats and envoys traveling to a flurry of meetings to discuss a potential deal.

Finnish president dismantles the idea Russia is winning war in Ukraine: ‘Utter strategic failure’ - Alexander Stubb says the war has caused Nato to expand and European countries to increase their defe

Mr Putin praised Russia’s constructive role in Latin America and the Middle East. He made no mention of America’s armed forces having abducted Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, a Russian ally whom he had welcomed in the Kremlin eight months earlier—much less of how easily they had knocked out Venezuela’s Russian-built air defences.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's willingness to conclude a peace deal on Ukraine is being tested. Rutte said this at the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to Bloomberg. Rutte rejected the idea that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is the main obstacle to a peace deal with Russia.