Top Ukrainian negotiator says talks with US to continue in Davos

KYIV - Ukraine's top negotiator Rustem Umerov said on Jan 18 that talks with US officials on a resolution of the nearly four-year-old war with Russia would continue at the World Economic Forum opening this week in the Swiss resort of Davos.

Mr Umerov, writing on Telegram, said two days of talks in Florida with a US team including envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, had focused on security guarantees and a post-war recovery plan for Ukraine.

He gave no indication whether any agreements had been achieved at the meeting.

"We agreed to continue work at the team level during the next phase of consultations in Davos," Mr Umerov wrote.

The two sides, in the latest of a series of meetings intended to work out the details of an agreement, had "discussed in depth" the two issues, "focusing on practical mechanisms and carrying out and implementing them," Mr Umerov said.

He said his delegation had reported on Russian strikes last week which badly damaged Ukraine's energy infrastructure and left hundreds of apartment buildings with no heating or electricity.

Kyiv’s team, which also included the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, Mr Kyrylo Budanov, and the head of Mr Zelensky’s parliamentary faction, Mr Davyd Arakhamia, is also seeking clarity from Washington on the Russian stance toward the US-backed diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Washington has pushed Ukraine to agree to a peace framework that it will then present to Moscow, while Kyiv and its European allies have sought to guard against any future attack by Russia.

Mr Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, said it was important to outline the effects of the Russian strikes as they demonstrated that Russia was not interested in diplomacy.

"If the Russians were seriously interested in ending the war, they would have focused on diplomacy," he said.

Mr Zelensky said repair crews made up of nearly 58,000 people remained engaged in restoring the heating network as night-time temperatures dip to minus 16 deg C.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said 30 apartment buildings in the capital Kyiv, particularly hard-hit by last week’s attacks, still had no heating.

Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had determined that Russia was conducting reconnaissance on key sites in preparation for strikes, including targets linked to Ukraine's nuclear power stations.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Jan 17 that there was evidence Russia was considering attacks on power substations supplying nuclear power stations.

Russia has made no comment on the allegations. REUTERS