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Ukrainian and Russian delegations began a second round of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, February 4, as international efforts continue to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
The two-day discussions bring together Ukraine, Russia, and the United States amid rising tensions. Last week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of using a US-backed energy truce to stockpile weapons, and Ukraine reported that Russia launched a record number of ballistic missiles on Tuesday.
“Another round of negotiations has begun in Abu Dhabi,” Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on Telegram. “The talks started in a trilateral format, with Ukraine, the United States, and Russia.”
Umerov added that negotiators would also break into smaller working groups to tackle specific issues before coming together to align their positions.
The talks follow a year of intense US diplomatic pressure on both Kyiv and Moscow to find a compromise to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Despite several rounds of meetings, both sides remain deeply divided on major issues.
Key sticking points include Russia’s demand that Ukraine cede territory it still controls and the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, located in a Russian-occupied area. Moscow is also insisting that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the entire eastern Donetsk region, including heavily fortified cities that are vital to Ukraine’s defense.
Ukraine has firmly rejected these demands, insisting that the conflict should remain frozen along the current front line and ruling out any unilateral withdrawal of its troops.
Currently, Russia occupies roughly 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea and large parts of the Donbas region. Analysts estimate that Russian forces have expanded their control by about 1.5 percent since early 2024.
Public sentiment in Ukraine remains strongly opposed to any territorial concessions. Polls show most Ukrainians reject deals that would hand land to Moscow, and many residents in Kyiv express little hope that the latest talks will produce a breakthrough.
“Let’s hope it will change something, of course. But I don’t believe it will. We will not give in, and they will not give in either,” said Serhii, a 38-year-old taxi driver in Kyiv.
The first round of US-brokered talks took place last month in the UAE, marking the first direct public negotiations between Ukraine and Russia since the early stages of the war.
