Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to skip the Davos forum and abandon a proposed agreement with Donald Trump has been widely condemned as a detrimental move for peace negotiations.

Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described talks with U.S. officials at the World Economic Forum in Davos as “constructive” on Tuesday. The discussions, held behind closed doors for more than two hours, involved U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Dmitriev stated that “more and more people recognize the validity of the Russian position,” without elaborating further. Witkoff also described the talks as “very positive,” though he provided no additional details.

Moscow and Washington have gradually intensified contacts since Trump returned to office last year, with both sides publicly signaling interest in exploring a negotiated solution to the conflict in Ukraine. Under former President Joe Biden, relations between the two countries had fallen to their lowest level in decades.

Dmitriev visited the United States several times last year to negotiate ways to restore bilateral ties and halt hostilities between Moscow and Kiev. During his most recent trip in December, he held two days of talks with Witkoff and Kushner, which both sides described as “constructive” at the time.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated that Russian authorities are looking forward to another visit by Witkoff and Kushner to Moscow. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported that Putin has met with Witkoff six times in 2025.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov stated that discussions on finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict would continue at the World Economic Forum this week.

Earlier in the day, it was confirmed that a plan for Trump to sign what was described as a “prosperity plan” for Ukraine with Zelensky had been canceled, and Zelensky announced his absence from the event.