KIEV/ABU DHABI (dpa-AFX) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has announced new talks next week about ending the Russian war of aggression in Abu Dhabi. “The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set – February 4th and 5th in Abu Dhabi,” he said on Telegram. He received a corresponding report from his negotiating team. There were already trilateral talks – between Ukrainian and Russian representatives as well as US negotiators – in Abu Dhabi last weekend. There was initially no confirmation from the Russian side.
“Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in an outcome that brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” Zelensky said. Last week alone, Russia attacked Ukraine with, among other things, 980 drones and almost 1,100 glide bombs. The country urgently needs air defense missiles.
Zelensky spoke to Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umjerov on Sunday. “I have scheduled a meeting for tomorrow to coordinate the framework of the discussions and prepare everything,” he said in his evening video address. “The team will be on the way to negotiations on Monday evening.” He hopes for support from the USA. “A lot depends on what the American side can achieve so that people trust both the process and the results.”
The Ukrainians and Russians had originally announced this Sunday that they would resume their direct negotiations to end the war in Abu Dhabi, which began a week ago after a long time.
Kremlin negotiator Dmitriyev on Saturday in Miami with Witkoff
A week ago, the talks were held behind closed doors and mediated by the USA with its chief negotiator Steve Witkoff. Meanwhile, Witkoff met with Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriyev in Miami on Saturday. The Russian told X that there had been a constructive meeting with the US delegation. He also had productive discussions with a working group on US-Russian economic relations.
For his part, Witkoff wrote that there had been productive and constructive discussions with Dmitriyev as part of the US attempt to mediate a solution to the Ukraine war. The meeting reinforced the view that Russia is working to ensure peace in Ukraine. According to Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and government advisor Josh Gruenbaum were also there from the US side.
Despite the numerous meetings that have repeatedly been described as “constructive” and “productive”, an agreement on a peace agreement is not yet in sight. Demands for territorial cessions are central to Moscow. Russia demands that Ukraine also withdraw from those parts of Donbass – which includes the Luhansk and Donetsk regions – that remain controlled by Kiev. President Zelensky has repeatedly rejected such cessions of territory.
More deaths in Russian drone attacks
Against the background of the negotiations, at the request of US President Donald Trump, Russia agreed to temporarily refrain from new attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure due to the extreme cold and the already extensive damage in Kiev and other cities. According to Russian information, the agreement should initially only be valid until Sunday in order to create a good basis for the negotiations in Abu Dhabi. However, attacks on other targets continued.
Zelensky complained that the attacks had shifted to the railway and other transport infrastructure. “It is obvious that the Russians want to cut our cities off from each other,” he said in his video message. The Russian Defense Ministry said in Moscow that there had been attacks on the transport infrastructure used by the Ukrainian armed forces and on ammunition depots.
A man and a woman died in a Russian drone attack in the city of Dnipro, military governor Olexander Hanscha said. A fire broke out. At least 12 people died in Pavlohrad when Russian drones hit a bus carrying miners. Another 16 people were injured in the attack, nine of them seriously.
Kyiv restores heating supply after blackout
However, there were no new reports of Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. However, there was a blackout on Saturday due to a cable failure. Work to restore supply continued on Sunday. According to authorities, emergency shutdowns continued across the country.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that more and more houses were being reconnected to the heating supply. Accordingly, around 1,000 houses in the capital were still without heat supply in the morning – after 3,500 houses the evening before. It was said that all metro lines were back in operation after the outage on Saturday.
The reason for the massive problems in many parts of the country was a failure of two lines between Romania and Moldova and in the territory of Ukraine, as Zelensky explained. It was a day of emergency for the government, the Ministry of Energy, energy companies and regional and local authorities. “The causes are currently being investigated,” said Zelensky.
Icing on the pipes may have been the reason for the collapse. “There is currently no evidence of external interference or a cyberattack,” Zelensky said. The country also increased its electricity imports. Ukraine’s energy system is severely damaged, especially after the many Russian attacks.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression with Western help for almost four years./mau/DP/zb
