Ukraine and Russia ended the second day of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on Monday without reaching an agreement but with the announcement of possible future meetings, following overnight Russian air strikes that left more than a million Ukrainians without electricity amid sub-zero winter temperatures, Reuters reports.
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Statements after the talks concluded did not indicate that any agreement had been reached, but both Moscow and Kiev said they were open to continuing the dialogue.
"The central focus of the talks was on possible parameters for ending the war. As a result of the meetings held during these days, all sides agreed to report on every aspect of the negotiations to their capitals and to coordinate further steps with their leaders," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the X network after the meeting, adding that new meetings could be held as early as next week.
A spokesman for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government said that representatives of Ukraine and Russia had met directly - a rarity in the nearly four-year war sparked by a full-scale Russian invasion - and that the "remaining elements" of a peace framework proposed by Washington were being discussed.
A spokesman for Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov told reporters shortly before 17pm local time in Abu Dhabi (14.00pm CET) that the talks had concluded.
Bombing of Ukraine ahead of second day of talks
The bombing of the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the second largest city Kharkiv, carried out by hundreds of Russian drones and missiles, prompted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha - who did not attend the talks - to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of "cynical behavior."
"This barbaric attack proves once again that Putin's place is not at the (peace) table of US President Donald Trump, but in the dock of a special tribunal. His missiles are not only hitting our people, but also the negotiating table," Sibiha wrote on the X network.
Saturday was scheduled to be the final day of the talks, which Zelensky described as the first trilateral meeting within the US-brokered peace process.
The UAE statement said the talks were held in a "constructive and positive atmosphere."
"(The talks) included direct engagement between Russian and Ukrainian representatives on the remaining elements of the US-proposed peace framework, as well as confidence-building measures aimed at supporting progress towards a comprehensive agreement," the statement added.
Kiev is under increasing pressure from the Donald Trump administration to make concessions in order to reach an agreement to end the deadliest and most destructive conflict in Europe since World War II.
Zelensky said on Friday that it was too early to draw conclusions after the first day of meetings in Abu Dhabi and called on Russia to show that it was ready for peace.
US special envoy for peace Steve Witkoff said this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the talks had made great progress and that only one issue remained. But Russian officials sound much more skeptical.
Russia wants the whole of Donbass
After Saturday's talks, Zelensky said the US delegation raised the issue of "possible formats for formalizing the parameters for ending the war, as well as the security conditions necessary for that."
Ahead of the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia had not given up on its demand that Ukraine cede the entire eastern region of Donbas, an industrial hub that includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Putin's demand that Ukraine hand over the 20 percent of Donetsk Oblast it still holds - about 5.000 square kilometers - has proven to be a major obstacle to any deal. Most countries recognize Donetsk as part of Ukraine, while Putin claims Donetsk is part of Russia's "historic lands."
Zelensky has ruled out giving up territory that Russia has failed to capture during four years of grueling war. Polls show there is little willingness among Ukrainians for any territorial concessions.
Russia claims that it wants a diplomatic solution, but that it will continue to work to achieve its goals through military means until a negotiated solution is reached.
Umerov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said late Friday that the first day of talks discussed parameters for ending the war and "the further logic of the negotiation process."
Meanwhile, Ukraine was once again exposed to Russian bombing.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 375 drones and 21 missiles overnight, again targeting energy infrastructure, causing power and heating outages in large parts of Kiev. At least one person was killed and more than 30 were injured.
Before Saturday's attacks, Kiev had already suffered two massive nighttime attacks since New Year's Day that knocked out power and heating in hundreds of apartment buildings. Ukraine's deputy prime minister said Saturday that 800.000 people in Kiev - where temperatures were around minus ten degrees Celsius - were left without electricity after the latest Russian attack.
Zelensky said today that powerful Russian nighttime strikes showed that agreements on additional air defense support, reached with Trump this week in Davos, must be "fully implemented."
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