Peace hopes rise but Zelenskyy says territory issues 'not solved yet'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday a document outlining US security guarantees for Ukraine was complete but that territorial issues had not yet been resolved in the conflict with Russia.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said Moscow and Kyiv should make compromises in the peace process, and that an upcoming trilateral meeting of top officials was a "positive" step.

"We speak about one issue, which is the most difficult which has been not solved, and I think trilateral meetings will show each variant," said Zelenskyy.

"It's all about the eastern part of our country. It's all about the land. This is the issue which we have not solved yet."

US and Ukrainian officials have spent weeks in frenetic shuttle diplomacy as Kyiv faces pressure from US President Donald Trump to secure peace in the nearly four-year-old conflict.

After a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland with the Ukrainian leader that lasted around an hour, Trump seemed upbeat but provided no further details on the substance of the conversation. On Wednesday, Trump had said a deal was "reasonably close". 

"I think the meeting with President Zelenskyy was good. It's an ongoing process," Trump said. Asked what his message was for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump replied: "The war has to end."

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had already said that only one issue remained before peace in Ukraine could be secured. He was due in Moscow later on Thursday for talks with Putin. 

Washington, Moscow and Kyiv have all made clear that the question is over territory.

The sticking point regards Putin's claim to all of Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk. Ukrainian forces still hold about 20 percent, or 5,000 square km of it, despite Russian advances on the battlefield. Moscow wants Ukrainian forces to withdraw from Donetsk, something Kyiv refuses to do.

Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions that Putin signed accession treaties on with heads of four Russian-occupied regions.

Putin said late on Wednesday that they would discuss a settlement on Ukraine and the possibility of using frozen Russian assets for reconstruction of Moscow-occupied land, as well as Trump's proposal for a Board of Peace, tasked with promoting peace around the world.

Zelenskyy announced two days of trilateral meetings between the US, Ukraine and Russia in the Emirates would start on Friday. The meetings will follow the American negotiating team's visit to Moscow the day before.

"Russians have to be ready for compromises because, you know, everybody has to be ready, not only Ukraine," Zelenskyy added. "This is important for us."

The United Arab Emirates has mediated between Moscow and Kyiv throughout the conflict, particularly on prisoner exchanges.

Ukrainian and Russian officials have met face-to-face on several occasions since the conflict began in February 2022, but those talks have not brought an end to fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives for both sides.