Russia, Ukraine Sit for Tense Talks on Thorny Territorial Issue

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in Abu Dhabi yesterday, to tackle the vital issue of territory, with no sign of a compromise, as Russian airstrikes plunged Ukraine into its worst energy crisis of the four-year war.

Kyiv is under mounting U.S. pressure to reach a peace deal in the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Moscow demanding Kyiv cede its entire eastern industrial area of Donbas before it stops fighting.

Reuters quoted Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to have said the territorial dispute would be a central issue at the talks in the United Arab Emirates, which were scheduled to conclude on Saturday.

“The most important thing is that Russia should be ready to end this war, which it started,” Zelenskiy said in a statement on the Telegram app, adding he was in regular contact with the Ukrainian delegation but it was too early to draw conclusions from yesterday’s talks.

“We’ll see how the conversation goes tomorrow and what the outcome will be.”

The negotiations come a day after Zelenskiy held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which yielded no immediate results.

The tripartite talks unfold against a backdrop of intensified Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy system that have cut power and heating to major cities like Kyiv, as temperatures hover well below freezing.

The head of Ukraine’s top private power producer, Maxim Timchenko, told Reuters yesterday, that the situation was nearing a “humanitarian catastrophe” and that Ukraine needs a ceasefire that halts attacks on energy.