Kyiv/Moscow. Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are set to address the sensitive issue of territory during two days of talks in Abu Dhabi starting on Friday, with both sides showing little sign of compromise as the war enters its fourth year.
Ukraine is under growing pressure from the United States to reach a peace agreement following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Moscow is demanding that Kyiv cede the entire eastern industrial region of Donbas as a condition for ending the fighting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the territorial dispute would be a top priority at the talks hosted in the United Arab Emirates.
“The question of Donbas is key. It will be discussed in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow,” Mr Zelenskiy said in a WhatsApp media briefing, a day after holding talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which both leaders described as positive.
A Zelenskiy aide said the talks were expected to begin on Friday evening and continue on Saturday morning.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine surrender the remaining 20 percent of the Donetsk region still under Kyiv’s control, an area of about 5,000 square kilometres. Mr Zelenskiy has rejected any proposal to give up territory that Russian forces have failed to seize after years of heavy fighting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s demand for control of Donbas remained “a very important condition” for any agreement.
A source close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Moscow continues to support a so-called “Anchorage formula”, which would allow Russia to control all of Donbas while freezing current front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Donetsk is among four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claimed to annex in 2022 following referendums rejected by Kyiv and Western countries as illegitimate. Most of the international community continues to recognise the territory as part of Ukraine.
Mr Zelenskiy said the Abu Dhabi talks would be the first trilateral negotiations involving Ukrainian and Russian officials alongside U.S. mediators since the war began.
Russian Admiral Igor Kostyukov, head of Russia’s military intelligence agency, is leading Moscow’s delegation, while Ukraine’s team is headed by Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council.
The Ukrainian leader also said a draft agreement on U.S. security guarantees for Kyiv was ready, and that he was awaiting confirmation from President Trump on the date and venue for signing.
Ukraine has been seeking strong security assurances from Western allies to deter any future Russian aggression.
Mr Zelenskiy dismissed Russia’s proposal to use frozen Russian assets in the United States to rebuild Russian-occupied territories, calling the idea “nonsense” and reiterating that Ukraine wants the funds used for reparations.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to face heavy missile and drone attacks on its energy infrastructure, causing widespread power outages and heating shortages during winter. Kyiv says the strikes show Moscow has little genuine interest in peace.
Russia maintains that it favours a diplomatic solution but will continue military operations until its objectives are met.
