Ukraine

Zelensky announces Feb. 4–5 Abu Dhabi talks with U.S., Russian envoys as strikes hit Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday’s two-day talks among U.S., Russian and Ukrainian envoys will open in Abu Dhabi, describing the latest bid to halt the Ukraine war as Russian strikes again hit civilians and critical infrastructure. “The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set — February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi,” Zelensky wrote on X. “Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested…

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said he held “productive and constructive” talks Friday in Florida with Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a meeting that comes on the eve of a new round of Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi backed by Washington. “Today in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the U.S. mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict,” Witkoff posted on X, adding, “We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is…

Mass power outages swept across Ukraine on Saturday after a “technical malfunction” knocked out high-voltage lines linking Moldova and Romania with Ukraine, disrupting water supplies in Kyiv and forcing a complete shutdown of the capital’s metro, officials said. “Today at 10:42 am (0842 GMT), a technical malfunction occurred, causing a simultaneous shutdown of the 400-kilovolt line between the power grids of Romania and Moldova and the 750-kilovolt line between western and central Ukraine,” Ukraine’s energy minister Denys…

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, and KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday of ordering massive missile and drone strikes as negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in Abu Dhabi for a second day to discuss a plan to end the nearly four-year war. "Peace efforts? Trilateral meeting in the UAE? Diplomacy? For Ukrainians, this was another night of Russian terror," Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on X. "Cynically, Putin ordered a brutal massive missile strike against…

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Russia, Ukraine and the United States reconvened in Abu Dhabi for a second day of talks on a plan backed by President Donald Trump to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, as fresh Russian strikes left thousands of Kyiv residents without heat in sub-zero temperatures. The meeting marks the first known direct contact between Ukrainian and Russian officials on the Trump proposal. Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said discussions focused “on the parameters for ending Russia’s war…

ABU DHABI — Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in the United Arab Emirates on Friday for a second day of talks on a plan backed by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the almost four-year war, even as Russian strikes left thousands in Kyiv without heat amid sub-zero temperatures. The UAE Foreign Ministry said the meetings in Abu Dhabi were scheduled to last two days and were “part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis.” The first known direct contact…

Somalia on Saturday voiced concern over damage to Qatar’s embassy in Kyiv during a Russian attack and urged full respect for international law protecting diplomats and foreign missions. In a statement, Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it regretted the damage to the Qatari Embassy building and emphasized the inviolability of diplomatic premises under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. “The Federal Republic of Somalia expresses its profound concern over the damage sustained by the Embassy of the brotherly…

Russia warns Western troops deployed to Ukraine would be “legitimate combat targets,” escalating tensions after the U.K. and France announced plans to deploy a multinational force in the event of a cease-fire. In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said “militaristic declarations” by a coalition of pro-Ukraine governments were becoming increasingly dangerous. It said any Western “military units, military facilities, depots and other infrastructure on Ukrainian territory will be classified as foreign intervention,…

PARIS — Key Ukrainian allies are meeting in Paris to hammer out security guarantees for Kyiv and advance U.S.-brokered plans aimed at ending the war with Russia, with Washington’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner set to join the talks. The gathering, convened by France and the United Kingdom under the banner of the “Coalition of the Willing,” brings together representatives from 35 countries, including Ireland. The French presidency said the aim is to demonstrate alignment between Washington, Kyiv and European partners…

Russia pounds Ukraine with overnight strikes, killing two near Kyiv on eve of Paris peace summit Russia launched overnight airstrikes across Ukraine early Monday, killing two people in the Kyiv region and triggering nationwide air raid alerts hours before European leaders gather in Paris to discuss a potential peace framework, Ukrainian authorities said. Sirens sounded shortly after midnight as Ukrainian air defenses engaged multiple incoming targets, the military said. In Kyiv, a private medical facility caught fire…