On eve of day two of talks in UAE capital, Russian attacks cut off about 1.2 million from power in sub-zero temperatures.
Ukraine and Russia ended a second day of United States-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi without an agreement, but with the warring sides saying they were open to further dialogue, as Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure continued.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X on Saturday that bilateral discussions focused on the “parameters for ending the war, as well as the security conditions required to achieve this”, and that further talks could take place as early as next week.
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The talks were attended by Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov, and Russian military intelligence and army representatives, according to Zelenskyy. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were also present.
A UAE government statement said talks were “constructive and positive”, tackling “outstanding elements” of Washington’s peace framework, with “direct engagement” between Ukraine and Russia, a rare event in the almost four-year-old war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The initial US draft drew heavy criticism in Kyiv and Western Europe for hewing too closely to Moscow’s maximalist demands and territorial ambitions, while Russia rejected revised versions over proposals for stationing European peacekeepers in Ukraine.
Before the discussions, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia had not dropped its insistence on Ukraine withdrawing from its eastern area of Donbas, the industrial heartland consisting of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
While Russia controls all of Luhansk, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to surrender the remaining 20 percent it still holds in Donetsk.
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine said: “We … know that they were meant to be discussing what to do about the contested areas in Donbas and also about the possibility of a ceasefire on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.”
‘Cynical’ attack during talks
On the eve of the second day of talks, Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, cutting off about 1.2 million people from electricity in sub-zero temperatures, according to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba.
Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said drone attacks on Kyiv killed one person and wounded four others.
Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov said that drone attacks on Ukraine’s second-largest city wounded 27 people.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who was not at the talks, accused Putin of acting “cynically”. “His missiles hit not only our people, but also the negotiation table,” he said.
“This barbaric attack once again proves that Putin’s place is not at [US President Donald Trump’s] Board of Peace, but in the dock of the special tribunal,” Sybiha wrote on X.
It emerged on Monday that Trump’s administration had invited Putin to join the board, purportedly aimed at resolving global conflicts, as well as overseeing governance and reconstruction in Gaza.
Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian opposition member of parliament in Kyiv, said on X that the attacks during talks were “not a coincidence”.
“This has been Putin’s strategy many times in the past. This is why a ceasefire was such a crucial prerequisite to any real talks,” she said.
Reporting on the talks, Zelenskyy said on X that he valued “the understanding of the need for American monitoring and oversight of the process of ending the war and ensuring genuine security”.