January 23, 2026:

These are the key developments from day 1,429 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 23 Jan 2026
Here is where things stand on Friday, January 23:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian negotiators are on their way to the United Arab Emirates for talks with Russian and United States negotiating teams.
“Our team is now heading to the Emirates for meetings with both the American and Russian sides,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram after a day of talks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. “We are waiting to see how it goes and will decide on the next steps.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin began a meeting with US envoys Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum late on Thursday to discuss a plan to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
US President Donald Trump again said that both Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy would like to make a deal to end the nearly four-year-old war, after meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the WEF in Davos.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday he “obviously” had concerns about Putin being on Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” in an interview with Channel 4 News. “He is waging war on a European country. They’re raining down bombs on Ukraine,” Starmer said.
The relationship between the US and the European Union has “taken a big blow” in the past week, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in advance of an emergency meeting of the bloc’s leaders on Thursday.
“Disagreements that allies have between them, like Europe and America, are just benefitting our adversaries who are looking and enjoying the view,” Kallas told reporters.