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Ukrainian and Russian officials concluded what Kyiv described as a “productive” first day of new US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, even as fighting continued in Europe’s largest conflict since World War Two.
The two-day trilateral meetings come amid heightened tensions following accusations by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia had exploited a US-backed energy truce last week to stockpile munitions. Ukraine was hit by a record number of ballistic missiles on Tuesday, according to Kyiv.
“The work was substantive and productive, focused on concrete steps and practical solutions,” Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, wrote on X after the first day of talks.
Despite the diplomatic engagement, violence continued on the ground. Shortly after the talks began, Russian forces struck a crowded market in eastern Ukraine using cluster munitions, killing at least seven people and wounding 15 others, Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said.
Umerov said he would prepare a report on the discussions for President Zelenskyy. Talks were expected to resume on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Photographs released earlier by the United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry showed Ukrainian, Russian and US delegations seated around a U-shaped table, with US officials positioned at the centre. Those present included special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Trump's administration has pushed both Kyiv and Moscow to find a compromise to end the four-year-old war, but the two sides remain far apart on key points despite several rounds of talks with US officials.
The most sensitive issues are Moscow's demands that Kyiv give up land it still controls and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, which sits in a Russian-occupied area.
Moscow wants Kyiv to pull its troops out of all of the Donetsk region, including a belt of heavily fortified cities regarded as one of Ukraine's strongest defences, as a precondition for any deal.
Ukraine said the conflict should be frozen along the current front line and has rejected any unilateral pullback of its forces.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russian troops would keep fighting until Kyiv made "decisions" that could bring the war to an end.
Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine's national territory, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion. Analysts say Russia has gained about 1.5% of Ukrainian territory since early 2024.
"Russia is not winning its war against Ukraine," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told online media outlet Liga on Tuesday. He argued that Moscow was paying a heavy price in terms of battlefield casualties and economic harm for small territorial advances.
The first round of talks was held in the UAE last month, marking the first direct public negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed their ties during a video call on Wednesday held in the run-up to the fourth anniversary of Moscow's war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Xi - who it said supported this week's talks - had invited Putin to China in the coming months. Beijing has sought to cast itself as a peacemaker in the war and is a close ally of Moscow, which is increasingly struggling to fund its vast war economy.
A source close to the government told Reuters that Russia's public deficit could balloon to almost triple the official target by end-2026.
With inputs from agencies
The two-day trilateral meetings come amid heightened tensions following accusations by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia had exploited a US-backed energy truce last week to stockpile munitions. Ukraine was hit by a record number of ballistic missiles on Tuesday, according to Kyiv.
“The work was substantive and productive, focused on concrete steps and practical solutions,” Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, wrote on X after the first day of talks.
Despite the diplomatic engagement, violence continued on the ground. Shortly after the talks began, Russian forces struck a crowded market in eastern Ukraine using cluster munitions, killing at least seven people and wounding 15 others, Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said.
Umerov said he would prepare a report on the discussions for President Zelenskyy. Talks were expected to resume on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Photographs released earlier by the United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry showed Ukrainian, Russian and US delegations seated around a U-shaped table, with US officials positioned at the centre. Those present included special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Major differences remain on key points
Trump's administration has pushed both Kyiv and Moscow to find a compromise to end the four-year-old war, but the two sides remain far apart on key points despite several rounds of talks with US officials.
The most sensitive issues are Moscow's demands that Kyiv give up land it still controls and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, which sits in a Russian-occupied area.
Moscow wants Kyiv to pull its troops out of all of the Donetsk region, including a belt of heavily fortified cities regarded as one of Ukraine's strongest defences, as a precondition for any deal.
Ukraine said the conflict should be frozen along the current front line and has rejected any unilateral pullback of its forces.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russian troops would keep fighting until Kyiv made "decisions" that could bring the war to an end.
Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine's national territory, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion. Analysts say Russia has gained about 1.5% of Ukrainian territory since early 2024.
"Russia is not winning its war against Ukraine," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told online media outlet Liga on Tuesday. He argued that Moscow was paying a heavy price in terms of battlefield casualties and economic harm for small territorial advances.
The first round of talks was held in the UAE last month, marking the first direct public negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed their ties during a video call on Wednesday held in the run-up to the fourth anniversary of Moscow's war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Xi - who it said supported this week's talks - had invited Putin to China in the coming months. Beijing has sought to cast itself as a peacemaker in the war and is a close ally of Moscow, which is increasingly struggling to fund its vast war economy.
A source close to the government told Reuters that Russia's public deficit could balloon to almost triple the official target by end-2026.
With inputs from agencies
