Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy visits UAE as momentum grows for war peace talks

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy visits UAE for potential peace talks amid growing momentum, as global leaders engage in diplomatic efforts.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the United Arab Emirates late Sunday (February 16, 2025) as momentum grows for potential peace talks ending Moscow’s war on the country.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week suggested he would be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia. The UAE, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, long has been floated as a possible site for peace talks as well given the large population of Russian and Ukrainian expatriates who have flooded the country since the war began, and due to the Emirates' work on prisoner exchanges in the past.

Mr. Zelenskyy arrived in Abu Dhabi after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Footage released by his office showed him and his wife, Olena Zelenska, being greeted by an Emirati official and honor guard at the airport late Sunday (February 16, 2025) night.

Ms. Zelenska has traveled to the UAE since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, but this trip is Mr. Zelenskyy’s first to the UAE since the war began.

“Our top priority is bringing even more of our people home from captivity,” Mr. Zelenskyy’s office said in messages online. “We will also focus on investments and economic partnership, as well as a large-scale humanitarian program.”

The United Arab Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency did not immediately report on Mr. Zelenskyy’s arrival, which was unusual.

It wasn’t immediately clear what his agenda would be while he was in the country, though Abu Dhabi is hosting its biennial International Defense Exhibition and Conference arms show this week, where both Ukraine and Russia have displayed arms — even as Moscow faces Western sanctions over the war.