Ukraine, Russia begin second round of UAE peace talks
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators began a second round of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi to advance efforts to end the nearly four-year war.
The two-day trilateral meetings came after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia exploited an energy ceasefire last week to stockpile ammunition by attacking Ukraine with a record number of ballistic missiles on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said in a statement on social media, “A new round of negotiations has started in Abu Dhabi. The negotiation process has started in a tripartite format: Ukraine, the USA and Russia.”
A new round of negotiations has begun in Abu Dhabi. The negotiation process started in a tripartite format (Ukraine, USA and Russia). Next comes work in separate groups according to certain parts, and then joint synchronization of positions is planned.…— Rustem Umerov (@rustem_umerov) February 4, 2026
Umerov said the talks began with three delegations, then the negotiators would split into groups based on topics and eventually meet again as a full group.
According to the White House, the US team would also attend last month’s meeting with special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Last year, the Trump administration pushed both Ukraine and Russia to find a compromise to end a four-year conflict triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but the two sides remain far apart on key points despite several rounds of talks with U.S. officials.
The most sensitive issues are Russia’s demands that Ukraine give up territory it still controls and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, located in Russian-occupied territory.
As a precondition for any deal, Russia wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the entire eastern Donetsk region, including the heavily fortified belt of cities considered one of Ukraine’s strongest defenses.
Ukraine said “the conflict should be frozen on the current front line” and rejected a unilateral withdrawal of its forces.
Russia occupies about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region captured before the 2022 invasion.
Russian forces have captured about 1.5 percent of Ukrainian territory since the beginning of 2024, military analysts said.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that its “forces took control of the settlements Staroukrainka” and “Stepanivka” in eastern Ukraine, TASS news agency reported.
The first round of talks was held in the UAE last month, marking the first direct public negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
with AP
