Russia refuses to drop its demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the eastern Donbas, hardening a core territorial red line hours before three-way talks with Ukraine and the United States in the United Arab Emirates.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said territory remains the decisive issue and will be on the table in Abu Dhabi, where the delegations are expected to hold the first direct public negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow over a plan pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the nearly four-year war.
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The high-level meetings come a day after Trump and Zelensky met in Davos and hours after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff held late-night talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. The diplomatic sprint underscores momentum to test a political settlement, even as the gap over land and security remains stark.
“Russia’s position is well known on the fact that Ukraine, Ukrainian armed forces, have to leave the territory of the Donbas. They must be withdrawn from there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling it “a very important condition.”
“The Donbas is a key issue,” Zelensky told reporters ahead of the talks. “God willing [the talks will lead] to ending the war,” he said, cautioning, “It could go differently, but it’s a step.”
Kyiv’s delegation includes Zelensky’s new chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, security chief Rustem Umerov, negotiator David Arakhamia and ground forces chief Andriy Gnatov. The Kremlin said its team will be led by Gen. Igor Kostyukov, head of the GRU military intelligence agency, describing it as an all-military delegation and declining to disclose other names. Witkoff is leading the U.S. side, with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also set to take part.
Zelensky said he expects to confer with his team in the afternoon before the session. Russia’s forces currently occupy about 20% of Ukraine, and Putin has said Moscow aims to take full control of eastern Ukraine by force if talks fail. Kyiv warns that ceding ground would embolden the Kremlin and says it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter a renewed assault.
After Putin’s meeting with Witkoff, Kushner and White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov called the talks “useful in every respect,” adding that Russia is “genuinely interested” in a political and diplomatic resolution—but will continue pursuing its objectives on the battlefield until one is reached.
In Davos, Zelensky said a draft to end the war is “nearly, nearly ready” and that he and Trump agreed on postwar security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump, reiterating his view that Putin and Zelensky are close to a deal, said, “I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid — that goes for both of them.”
The territorial question has stalled efforts for months. In December, Zelensky signaled any agreement involving additional land concessions would require a public vote. Ukraine and European partners have been working to revise an initial U.S. proposal that aligned with several of Moscow’s core demands. Zelensky presented a new draft closer to Kyiv’s position, but it did not resolve the long-term status of territory, and Russia has indicated opposition to changing the terms.
The talks open as Russian strikes this week plunged much of Kyiv into darkness. As of this morning, 1,940 apartment buildings in the capital were still without heating, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, with temperatures below freezing. Russia says its attacks target energy infrastructure fueling Ukraine’s “military-industrial complex.” Kyiv calls the strikes a war crime aimed at breaking the civilian population.
The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. Whether Abu Dhabi can bridge the distance on territory—and on enforceable security guarantees—will determine if the latest diplomatic push can move beyond optics to a framework that stops the fighting.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
