Russia demands Ukraine accept its territorial demands to end the war, as new US-mediated talks open in Abu Dhabi amid ongoing Russian strikes.
ABU DHABI: Russia demanded Ukraine accept its conditions to end the four-year war as negotiations opened in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. The Kremlin vowed to continue its invasion otherwise, with its hardline rhetoric and a massive pre-talks missile barrage threatening to overshadow any progress.
“Our position is well known,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters as the talks got underway. “Until the Kyiv regime makes the appropriate decisions, the special military operation continues.”
The US-mediated talks are the latest diplomatic effort to halt Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. The war has killed hundreds of thousands and forced millions to flee, decimating large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid confirmed Moscow “continues to bet on war and the destruction of Ukraine”. He stated the work of Kyiv’s negotiating team would be adjusted accordingly.
US President Donald Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had “kept his word” with a week-long pause on hitting the capital or critical energy facilities. “I want him to end the war,” Trump added of Putin.
The main sticking point remains the long-term fate of territory in eastern Ukraine. Moscow demands Kyiv pull troops from swathes of the Donbas and wants international recognition for seized land.
Kyiv has rejected a unilateral pull-back, proposing the conflict be frozen along the current front line instead. Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov confirmed the talks had started in a trilateral format.
Trump has dispatched envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to try to broker an agreement. Russia occupies around 20% of Ukraine, but Kyiv still controls around one-fifth of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and it will not sign a deal that fails to deter a future invasion. On the battlefield, Russia has been notching up gains at immense human cost.
Following the first round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi last month, Ukrainians were doubtful any deal could be struck. “I think it’s all just a show for the public,” Kyiv resident Petro told AFP. “We must prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
