TWO days of talks involving representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the United States ended on Saturday with “constructive” discussions on “possible parameters” for ending the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. 

Negotiators will return to the United Arab Emirates for the next round on February 1, according to a US official who described the meetings as upbeat and positive.

The talks are the first known instance that officials from the Trump administration have sat down with both countries as part of Washington’s push for progress to end Moscow’s nearly four-year conflict.

“All parties agreed to report to their capitals on each aspect of the negotiations and to coordinate further steps with their leaders,” President Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

The meetings covered a broad range of military and economic matters and included the possibility of a ceasefire before a deal, said the official. 

There was not yet an agreement on a final framework for oversight and operation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russia and is the largest in Europe.

President Zelensky, meanwhile, said there was “an understanding of the need for American monitoring and control of the process of ending the war and ensuring real security.”

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner participated alongside Ukrainian officials, including chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and Kyrylo Budanov, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff. 

According to President Zelensky, Russia sent military intelligence and army representatives.

While President Zelensky said in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday that a potential peace deal was “nearly ready,” certain sensitive sticking points — most notably those related to territorial issues — remain unresolved.

The second day of talks came as Russian drone attacks killed one person and wounded four in the capital, Kiev, according to the city’s military administration head Tymur Tkachenko. 

In Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, drone attacks wounded 27 people, Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday.