Russia and Ukraine hold first direct talks on a US peace plan in Abu Dhabi, with the disputed Donbas region remaining a key sticking point.
ABU DHABI: Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met for the first direct negotiations on a peace plan pushed by US President Donald Trump.
The two-day talks in Abu Dhabi focused on ending Russia’s war and the future negotiation process, according to Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the status of territory remains the key issue, with Moscow demanding Kyiv withdraw from the eastern Donbas region.
Kyiv, which still controls around 20% of Donbas, has rejected such terms.
The Kremlin reiterated its position that Ukraine’s armed forces must leave Donbas, calling it a “very important condition”.
Both sides say the fate of eastern Ukraine is a main outstanding issue in the search for a settlement to the nearly four-year war.
The talks proceeded as Russian strikes left thousands in Kyiv without heating in sub-zero temperatures.
The European Union accused Moscow of “deliberately depriving civilians of heat”.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators last met face-to-face in Istanbul last summer, with talks then only yielding prisoner exchange deals.
After US-Russia talks in Moscow, a Putin aide said Russia was “genuinely interested” in a diplomatic resolution.
He added that otherwise, Russia would continue to pursue its objectives on the battlefield.
Trump has previously pressured Ukraine to agree to terms viewed in Kyiv as capitulation.
The US president said this week he believed both sides were close to a deal.
