Russia, Ukraine and the United States hold talks in Abu Dhabi; Russia launches another air strike on Ukraine to exert pressure

Representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United States began their first round of talks in Abu Dhabi on Friday and continued with new negotiations on Saturday. However, due to the extremely complicated issue in the Donbas region, the core issues of how to resolve the war caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have become stuck in a deadlock. Meanwhile, Russia continues to exert military pressure on Ukraine, launching attacks on major cities such as Kyiv and Kharkov.

Russian Air Strikes Exert Pressure

From late Friday night to early Saturday morning, Russia launched a large-scale air strike on Ukraine, resulting in at least one death and 20 injuries in Kyiv and the northeastern city of Kharkov.

Under the threat of air strikes, the entire country of Ukraine entered an air defense alert state overnight. The Ukrainian military stated that the drone and missile attacks by Russia pose a serious threat and cannot be ignored.

Kyiv Mayor Klichko reported: "Five districts of Kyiv were damaged and fires broke out, and the glass of a private clinic was shattered by the blast. It has been confirmed that one person died and four were injured, and rescue and cleanup operations are still ongoing."

This winter has been very cold, and the temperature in Ukraine has dropped to minus 10 degrees Celsius. The recent Russian air strike caused heating and water supply disruptions in some suburbs of Kyiv.

The city of Kharkov, also hit by Russian drone attacks, had its mayor state: "It was attacked by Shahed drones designed by Iran, and several residential buildings in this large city near the Russian border were damaged, including a maternity hospital."

The mayor said: "Kharkov suffered nearly two and a half hours of intense attacks, and Russia deployed at least 25 drones to attack the city, and at least 19 people have been injured so far."

At the same time as Russia used drones to attack these two cities in Ukraine, representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United States held their first meeting in Abu Dhabi.

Russia-Ukraine-US Talks in Abu Dhabi

This meeting, led by the United States, mainly discussed how to end the war that has lasted for four years and related specific terms.

According to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, the difficult issues in this negotiation remain territorial issues, with Donbas being a key topic. All parties have agreed to continue the negotiations and are scheduled to continue today, Saturday.

Analysts point out that this three-way meeting took place against the backdrop of Ukraine facing multiple dilemmas. Ukraine's power grid has been severely damaged by a series of Russian drone attacks, causing power outages and heating interruptions in many parts of the country, with Kyiv and other cities being particularly affected.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the current front-line situation is not favorable for the Ukrainian army. Ukraine needs to deal with larger and better-equipped Russian offensives, while Kyiv largely relies on financial and military aid provided by the West.

Representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United States continued their talks in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, which began on Friday, marking the first time that the three sides have negotiated in this form to address the specific terms of the war that has lasted for four years. The complexity of the Donbas issue has left the negotiations in a deadlock.

Ukrainian chief representative Umerov stated that the core conditions for ending the war were discussed during the meeting, and consultations were held on advancing the negotiation process. The initial meeting on Friday focused on determining the conditions for ending the war initiated by Russia to achieve a dignified and lasting peace.

Russia pointed out that the negotiations face many difficulties and reiterated its demand that Ukraine withdraw from industrial and mining areas currently under Russian control in the east. This three-way meeting is the first direct discussion between Moscow and Kyiv on the war resolution proposed by Washington.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, thousands of people have died. After the preliminary talks on Friday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated that it is too early to draw conclusions and added that he is waiting for the results of the Saturday talks, and he receives the latest news almost hourly.

Ukraine not only wants to end this war and achieve comprehensive peace, but Russia also has similar wishes.

Previously, direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place in the first year of the conflict, and several negotiations were held in Istanbul in 2025, but ultimately only agreements on the exchange of prisoners and remains of soldiers were reached.

Meetings without European Participation

This new round of negotiations is led by the United States and held in Abu Dhabi, far away from Europe, with no participation from European countries. European countries are concerned that Washington may force Kyiv to accept a deal too favorable to Moscow, while Russia has always criticized European interference in the negotiations.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy gave a strong speech at the Davos Economic Forum to his main political and economic supporters, pointing out that he sees a Europe that is divided and lost in its stance against Putin, and lacks political will in dealing with Trump's position.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated that he received a security agreement from US President Trump regarding Ukraine, and now it needs to be finalized by the leaders and parliaments of Ukraine and Russia.

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1855210092293579/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author himself.