Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are meeting in Abu Dhabi for U.S.-brokered peace talks as fighting continues and deep divisions remain over the future of eastern Ukrainian territory.
WEBDESK – MediaBites
Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are set to meet in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday in a renewed attempt to broker an end to the four-year war, even as Moscow continues attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The talks, mediated by Washington, mark another push to resolve Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite several rounds of diplomacy over the past years, efforts to secure a ceasefire or political settlement have repeatedly stalled.
According to diplomats familiar with the agenda, the central sticking point remains the long-term status of territory in eastern Ukraine. Moscow is demanding that Kyiv withdraw its forces from large parts of the Donbas region — including heavily fortified cities rich in natural resources — and is seeking international recognition of areas seized during the invasion as Russian territory.
Ukraine has firmly rejected those demands, insisting that any settlement should freeze the conflict along the current front lines and opposing a unilateral pullback of its troops.
The Abu Dhabi talks come at a tense moment on the battlefield. Russian forces have resumed strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving more than 1,100 buildings without power in Kyiv and surrounding areas as subzero temperatures grip the country. Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone strike also killed two people in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who visited Kyiv on Tuesday, said the latest attacks undermined claims that Moscow was serious about peace. “Russian attacks like those last night do not signal seriousness about peace,” he said.
The United States is being represented by special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has played a central role in coordinating the talks under President Donald Trump’s administration.
While expectations for a breakthrough remain low, diplomats say the Abu Dhabi meeting is seen as a test of whether the warring sides are willing to narrow their differences or whether the conflict is set to drag on with no immediate political resolution in sight.
