Tense discussions begin as Russia and Ukraine address thorny territorial claims as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in Abu Dhabi on Friday to confront one of the most sensitive and unresolved issues of the war: land. The talks showed no immediate signs of compromise, even as intensified Russian airstrikes pushed Ukraine into its most severe energy crisis of the nearly four-year conflict.
Ukraine is facing growing pressure from the United States to explore a negotiated end to the war sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Moscow, however, has maintained a hardline stance, demanding that Kyiv hand over the entire eastern industrial Donbas region as a precondition for halting hostilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed that territorial questions were at the heart of the tripartite discussions involving Ukrainian, Russian, and U.S. officials, which were set 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 shared on Telegram. He added that while he remained in close contact with Ukraine’s negotiating team, it was still too early to draw conclusions from the first day of talks.
“We’ll see how the conversation goes tomorrow and what the outcome will be.”
Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council and head of the Ukrainian delegation, said the discussions focused on potential parameters for ending the war and shaping the next phase of negotiations.
The Abu Dhabi talks come just a day after Zelenskiy met U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland—a meeting that underscored Washington’s increasing involvement in steering the peace process.
Zelenskiy also revealed that an agreement on U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine is ready, saying he is now awaiting confirmation from Trump on the time and place for signing. Kyiv has repeatedly stressed the need for firm security assurances from Western allies to prevent Russia from launching another invasion should a peace deal be reached.
Energy Crisis Deepens as Strikes Continue
The negotiations are unfolding against a grim backdrop. Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure, leaving millions without electricity and heating as temperatures plunge below freezing. Major cities, including Kyiv, have been affected.
Maxim Timchenko, head of Ukraine’s largest private energy producer, warned that the situation was approaching a “humanitarian catastrophe” and said a ceasefire protecting energy infrastructure was urgently needed. Ukraine’s energy minister described Thursday as the most difficult day for the power grid since a massive blackout in November 2022, when Russia first launched widespread strikes on energy facilities.
While Moscow says it prefers a diplomatic resolution, it has made clear it will continue pursuing its objectives through military force if negotiations fail to deliver results.
Donbas Remains the Core Obstacle
A major barrier to any breakthrough remains Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender the roughly 20% of the Donetsk region it still controls—around 5,000 square kilometers. Zelenskiy has firmly rejected relinquishing territory that Russian forces have been unable to capture despite years of grinding warfare. Public opinion in Ukraine also shows little support for territorial concessions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Friday that Ukraine’s withdrawal from all of Donbas is “a very important condition” for Moscow. A source close to the Kremlin said Russia favors an “Anchorage formula,” which it claims was discussed between Trump and Putin at a summit in Alaska last August. Under that framework, Russia would gain full control of Donbas while front lines elsewhere in eastern and southern Ukraine would be frozen.
Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claimed to annex in 2022 following referendums dismissed by Kyiv and Western governments as illegitimate. The vast majority of countries continue to recognize Donetsk as sovereign Ukrainian territory.
Dispute Over Frozen Assets
Adding another layer of tension, Russia has proposed using nearly $5 billion in frozen Russian assets held in the United States to fund reconstruction in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Kyiv, supported by European allies, insists those funds should instead be used as reparations for the damage caused by the invasion.
Zelenskiy dismissed Moscow’s proposal outright, calling it “nonsense.”
He also noted that the Abu Dhabi meetings mark the first formal trilateral talks involving Ukrainian and Russian envoys with U.S. mediation since the war began. While Russian and Ukrainian delegations met briefly in Istanbul last year, and separate contacts took place in Abu Dhabi in November, the current talks represent the most structured diplomatic engagement yet.
As tense discussions begin as Russia and Ukraine address thorny territorial claims, the gap between the two sides remains wide—leaving the path to peace uncertain, even as pressure mounts and conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate.