The US-mediated trilateral peace talks between Russia and Ukraine came to an end on Saturday, just hours after a massive Russian overnight airstrike that left millions of Ukrainians without electricity.
The two-day talks in Abu Dhabi came to an uncertain end, with no agreements reached. While Russia and Ukraine have both said that they were open to talks, Moscow’s offensive is likely to have reduced chances of further negotiations.
“The central focus of the discussions was the possible parameters for ending the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in an X post after the meeting.
“As a result of the meetings held over these days, all sides agreed to report back in their capitals on each aspect of the negotiations and to coordinate further steps with their leaders,” he said, adding that further meetings could take place as early as next week.
However, he refrained from criticising Russia for its overnight barrage, simply thanking the US and the UAE for their mediation efforts.
The trilateral talks are the first instance—since the beginning of the nearly four-year-old war—that officials from the Trump administration have sat down with both countries to bring about peace.
This comes after Zelenskyy said on Thursday at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, that a potential peace deal was “nearly ready”. Yet, certain sensitive points—mostly territorial issues—remain unresolved.
The overnight barrage on Ukraine
At least one died and dozens more were wounded after Russia’s overnight strike on Kyiv with over 370 attack drones and 21 missiles of various types, which also struck its electricity board.
This left more than a million people without power, and in turn, without heating—a major problem as sub-zero temperatures persist in the country.
Zelenskyy had earlier claimed that the airstrikes on Kyiv, as well as the Sumy, Kharkiv, and the Chernihiv regions, had specifically targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Russia-Ukraine-US talks end in uncertainty after overnight airstrike on Kyiv: All you need to know
