Second day of US-Ukraine-Russia talks in Abu Dhabi. Russia admits Ukraine's withdrawal from Donbas, the main obstacle in the negotiations
Russia admits that the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas, its main requirement for a peace agreement, is the main obstacle in the trilateral negotiations mediated by the US, reports EFE.
“This issue remains the most complex. For Russia, the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from Donbas is crucial. Various security parameters are taken into account for this purpose,” an official source told the TASS news agency.
Talks between Ukraine and Russia, mediated by the US, resumed on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. They started on Friday and, according to the official source quoted by TASS, “no one left slamming the door.”
According to TASS, the meetings are taking place in “various formats”, but no further details were provided.
“Today's trilateral meeting [vineri] from Abu Dhabi between the United States, Ukraine and Russia was productive. Conversations will continue tomorrow,” an anonymous White House official told NBC News.
The first direct contact between Ukrainian and Russian officials took place on Friday. Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said the talks focused on “parameters for ending the war in Russia and the next steps in the negotiation process.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out on Friday that “now it is very important to implement the formula agreed in Anchorage”meaning Russia's interpretation of the discussions held at the August 2025 summit in Alaska between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.
Russia reiterated its maximum peace condition
Peskov insisted on Friday that there will be no definitive cessation of hostilities until the territorial issue is resolved, the solution of which, according to the Kremlin, consists in the voluntary withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbas region.
Putin gave his approval for trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi after meeting with White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner early Friday morning.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced the team of negotiators after Thursday's meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“It is essential that not only Ukraine wants to end this war and achieve security, but also that Russia shares this aspiration”Zelenski declared in his speech to the nation on Friday night.
The Russian delegation, after promising to raise the level of representation of its team – led in the last three bilateral meetings by a presidential adviser – is led this time by Admiral Igor Kostiukov, deputy chief of the General Staff and head of the military intelligence services, and includes only military personnel, according to the Kremlin.
The Ukrainian delegation includes, among others, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kirill Budanov, the leader of the parliamentary group of Zelensky's party, David Arakhamia, and the secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov.
