Ukraine, Russia open Abu Dhabi talks as strikes batter energy grid
ABU DHABI — Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States were set to gather in the Emirati capital on Tuesday, seeking to advance talks on how to end the four-year war as a wave of Russian missile and drone attacks pounded Ukraine’s energy grid in subfreezing temperatures.
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The meeting, scheduled to run through Wednesday after a postponement last weekend over what the Kremlin called scheduling issues, comes amid grim omens for diplomacy. Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and several rounds of talks have failed to produce a breakthrough.
“Each such Russian strike confirms that attitudes in Moscow have not changed: they continue to bet on war and the destruction of Ukraine, and they do not take diplomacy seriously,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the latest barrage cut power and heat to hundreds of thousands, including in Kyiv.
The core sticking point remains the long-term fate of territory in eastern Ukraine. Moscow is demanding Kyiv pull its troops from swathes of the Donbas, including heavily fortified, resource-rich areas, as a precondition for any deal. It also wants international recognition of land seized during the invasion. Ukraine has said the conflict should be frozen along the current front line and has rejected a unilateral pullback of forces.
Ukraine’s delegation is led by National Security Council chief Rustem Umerov, a negotiator colleagues describe as shrewd and relentless. Russia’s lead envoy is military intelligence director Igor Kostyukov, a career naval officer sanctioned in the West over his role in the invasion. At a previous round of talks in Abu Dhabi last month, the U.S. team was led by President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Russia, which occupies about 20% of Ukraine, has threatened to seize the rest of the Donetsk region if talks fail. Ukraine still controls roughly one-fifth of Donetsk. At the current pace of Russian advances, it would take about 18 months to capture the remainder, according to AFP analysis, though those areas include heavily fortified urban hubs that would likely exact a high cost.
Beyond Donetsk, Russia asserts claims over Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and maintains pockets of territory in at least three other eastern regions. Kyiv argues that ceding ground would embolden further aggression and says it will not sign a deal that fails to deter another Russian invasion.
Public opinion in Ukraine remains firmly against a land-for-peace arrangement, according to opinion polls. Many Ukrainians regard the prospect of abandoning territory soldiers have defended for years as unconscionable.
The human toll continues to mount. Firefighters in the eastern city of Kramatorsk worked to extinguish blazes after a Russian strike on Monday, as new salvos targeted power infrastructure across the country. Kyiv’s grid has been severely damaged this year, leaving large swathes of the capital without heat and electricity in temperatures well below freezing.
On the battlefield, Russia has made incremental gains at immense human cost, wagering it can outlast and outgun Ukraine’s stretched forces. Zelensky has pressed Western partners to accelerate weapons deliveries and tighten economic and political pressure on the Kremlin to halt the invasion.
Whether the Abu Dhabi talks can surmount entrenched positions is unclear. The agenda is dominated by territorial control and the conditions for any pause in fighting. For now, both sides appear to be negotiating from the battlefield, even as diplomats gather far from the front lines.
The talks are expected to conclude Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. No timeline for further negotiations has been announced.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
