00:00After months of stalled diplomacy and battlefield escalation, a rare late-night meeting in Moscow
00:26has reopened the door to high-stakes negotiations between Washington and the Kremlin.
00:32Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down for nearly four hours with U.S. envoys linked
00:37to President Donald Trump — talks described by Moscow as substantive, constructive, and
00:44very frank.
00:45But while dialogue has resumed, Russia made one thing unmistakably clear — without resolving
00:51territorial questions, there will be no durable peace.
00:55According to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, the talks reinforced a position Russia has held
01:01for months — that borders and territorial control are the central issue.
01:06Ushakov said Moscow remains committed to a framework first discussed at the Anchorage-Trump-Putin
01:12summit, insisting that without agreement on land, diplomacy cannot succeed.
01:17He confirmed Russia will join three-way security talks with the U.S. and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi,
01:23led by Admiral Igor Kostuchkov, while economic discussions will run on a parallel track.
01:29Despite the long meeting, Russian officials avoided declaring a breakthrough.
01:34Instead, they emphasized continuity, saying Russia will keep pursuing its objectives of its
01:40special military operation until its demands are met.
01:44That message was blunt — diplomacy may continue, but pressure on the battlefield will not ease.
01:51At the same time, the Abu Dhabi talks signaled that channels remain open — a critical development
01:56after months of frozen contact.
01:59Speaking after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Davos, Trump struck a sharper
02:05tone.
02:06You know, what's happened here is there were times when Putin didn't want to make a deal,
02:09times when Zelensky didn't want to make a deal, and it was like opposite times.
02:15Now I think they both want to make a deal, but we'll find out.
02:18Did something change that makes you think that Putin and Zelensky now are serious about it?
02:23President Volodymyr Zelensky, any predictions?
02:24There are no changes.
02:25I think that President Putin would like to make a deal.
02:30I think that President Zelensky would like to make a deal.
02:35What did Zelensky say today?
02:38I mean, he came all the way there to meet you.
02:40What did he say?
02:41He said he'd like to make a deal.
02:44I mean, you know, there's not much he can say.
02:48People know the parameters.
02:49It's not like, you know, we're discussing things that have been discussed for six or
02:54seven months.
02:55And he came and he said he wants to make a deal, because I wasn't necessarily sure.
03:00I think he should want to make a deal.
03:02It's pretty tough.
03:03It's really tough on the people of Ukraine.
03:06I'll tell you that.
03:07Mr. President, how they live without heat, where it's 20 degrees below zero,
03:14you know, it's very cold.
03:15That's a very, that's a colder climate, for the most part, than Canada.
03:21And they live without heat?
03:23I asked him, I mean, how do they, how do they do that?
03:26And he gave me an answer.
03:28It's pretty amazing what they do to live.
03:31There's no way to live.
03:34Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, said negotiations have narrowed to one remaining issue, reinforcing
03:41the idea that territory is now the final and hardest hurdle.
03:46Even as talks advance, Ukraine faces one of its harshest winters of the war.
03:51Russian missile and drone strikes continue to hammer energy infrastructure, leaving cities
03:56in darkness and cold.
03:58Kyiv argues the attacks prove Moscow isn't serious about peace, a claim Russia flatly rejects,
04:05pointing instead to its battlefield momentum.
04:08The Moscow meeting marks progress, but not resolution.
04:12Diplomacy is moving again, yet the core dispute remains untouched.
04:16Territory, sovereignty and security guarantees are now the final test.
04:22Until those questions are answered, the war grinds on, with talks and missiles advancing side-by-side.
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