Ukraine-Russia-US talks begin in UAE as Moscow sticks to Donbas demand

In a diplomatic breakthrough, senior delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the United States have met in the United Arab Emirates for their first trilateral talks since the full-scale war began in February 2022 even as Moscow reiterated it would not drop its demand that Kyiv withdraw from the eastern Donbas region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said territory remained the key issue and would be on the agenda for the talks.

They are the first direct public negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv on a plan being pushed by the US President Donald Trump to end the almost four-year-long war.

“The talks commenced today in Abu Dhabi and are scheduled to continue over two days, as part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis,” the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement.

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A rapid diplomatic blitz

The Abu Dhabi summit follows a whirlwind of “shuttle diplomacy” led by the Trump administration. Just 24 hours prior, President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Simultaneously, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held late-night discussions with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Despite the movement, the Kremlin has not softened its stance. Moscow continues to demand that Kyiv fully cede the Donbas industrial region—a “maximalist” requirement that remains a non-starter for Ukrainian sovereignty.

“Frozen” ground realities

While diplomats talk in the warmth of the Emirates, the situation on the ground remains dire as just before the talks began, Kyiv said Russian strikes had killed three people Friday in the Kharkiv region and four people – including a father and his five-year-old son – overnight in the east.

While diplomacy to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II has gained pace, Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds, in what looks like a deadlock, over the issue of territory.

Kyiv’s energy minister said on Thursday that Ukraine’s power grid had endured its most difficult day since a widespread blackout in November 2022, when Russia first began bombing energy infrastructure.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender the 20% it still holds of the Donetsk region of the Donbas - about 5,000 sq km (1,900 sq miles) - has proven a major stumbling block to a breakthrough deal.

Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions Moscow said in 2022 it was annexing after referendums rejected by Kyiv and Western nations as bogus. Most countries recognise Donetsk as part of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said on Friday that a deal on US security guarantees for Kyiv was ready, and that he was only waiting on Trump for a specific date and place to sign it.

For its part, Russia has floated the idea of using the bulk of nearly $5 billion of Russian assets frozen in the United States to fund a recovery of Russian-occupied territory inside Ukraine. Ukraine, backed by European allies, demands that Russia pay it reparations.

Asked about Russia’s idea, Zelenskyy dismissed it as “nonsense”.

Russia says it wants a diplomatic solution but will keep working to achieve its goals by military means as long as a negotiated solution remains elusive.

With inputs from agencies