Ukraine, Russia war: Volodymyr Zelensky says lasting peace realistic ahead of talks
Ukrainian and Russian officials are preparing for talks in Abu Dhabi involving US special envoy Steve Witkoff on how to end the conflict.
President Volodymyr Zelensky says that it is realistic to achieve a dignified and lasting peace, ahead of the next round of peace talks with Russian and US officials due this week in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking after discussions with his negotiating team, Mr Zelensky said the Ukrainian delegation would also hold bilateral meetings with US officials during the two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, which are due to start on Wednesday.
“We consider the bilateral security guarantees document with the United States to be complete, and we anticipate further substantive work on documents related to recovery and economic development,” Mr Zelensky said.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Abu Dhabi for the talks on Wednesday and Thursday, a WhiteHouse official said on Monday.
The Kremlin also confirmed that the next round of talks will take place later this week in Abu Dhabi, the Russian news agency Interfax reported on Monday.
The meeting had originally been planned for Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow.
However, Mr Peskov said further scheduling by the three delegations had been necessary.
“The second round will now take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Zelensky said Russia had not carried out any targeted missile or drone strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the last 24 hours although energy facilities in frontline areas have come under fire.
Mr Zelensky’s statement highlighted the limitations of a short-term energy truce that Russia agreed to last week at the request of Trump.
Mr Zelensky said energy repair crews had managed to restore energy facilities damaged when high-voltage power lines malfunctioned over the weekend, on top of the damage caused by frequent Russian attacks.
“The (energy) system is operating stably. However, given the extremely cold weather and the impact of Russian strikes, all challenges remain serious,” Mr Zelensky said on the Telegram app.
Russia and Ukraine said last week they halted strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure but disagreed on the time frame for the truce.
The Kremlin said Mr Trump had made a personal request to Russian President Vladimir Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv until February 1.
Mr Zelensky said the truce was supposed to last for a week, starting on January 30.
A Russian drone strike on Sunday killed 12 miners at a coal mine in the Ukrainian Dnipropetrovsk region, officials said.
with DPA
