US joins new round of talks with Ukraine and Russia, but Ukrainians doubt any major breakthrough

Kyiv—Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustam Umerov, confirmed that a new round of trilateral peace talks involving Ukraine, Russia, and the United States began in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. The parties met for the first time in the emirate’s capital in late January, marking the beginning of the first three-way talks since Russia launched its initiative. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine occurred approximately four years ago.

US officials termed the first round “the most constructive of the war”, and it appears to have led to a recent “energy ceasefire”, in which both sides halted attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure for four days.

However, the initial round of talks in January appears to have lost its momentum at the onset of the second round.

Russia broke the brief ceasefire between Monday night and Tuesday morning, launching 450 drones and more than 60 missiles at Ukraine, according to Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha, who said the strikes had not heated 1,170 apartment buildings in Kiev.

Representatives of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, told CBS News that the strikes were “one of the worst attacks” on the country’s energy. The strikes were fundamental to the entire war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attacks proof that Russia’s leaders “do not take diplomacy seriously.”

“These attacks were not a surprise to anyone. This is what Russia does,” Yuri Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries, told CBS News. “On the one hand, they keep saying they are interested in peace. On the other hand, they destroy our infrastructure and bomb our people, and people are left without heat in these cold months.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Before the talks in Abu Dhabi, it was said that Russian forces were ‘attacking targets that they believe are connected to the Kiev regime’s military complex, and the operation is ongoing.'”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who visited Kyiv this week shortly after the attacks, said in a social media post that he visited a “civilian heating plant” hit by Russian missiles on Tuesday. “The attacks have no military value and are solely intended to cause suffering to people.”

Russia has demanded that Ukraine formally surrender its territory.

Two major obstacles have long hindered President Trump’s efforts to get Russia and Ukraine to agree to a peace deal: Russia’s demand that Ukraine formally give up the territory it has occupied in the eastern Donbass region and demands for credible guarantees from Western powers for Ukrainian security if Russia tries to attack again after the ceasefire.

Zelensky: At the end of last year, it became clear that the question of territorial concessions remained the biggest obstacle in the negotiations. Georgy Tykhyi, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, believes that this round of talks is unlikely to resolve the issue. As the talks began, journalists said that “the most sensitive and complex issues, such as regional issues” would be left for the heads of state to discuss.

However, the heads of state could make progress on other issues, such as the implementation of security guarantees for Ukraine following the hypothetical armistice.

Prominent military figures have once again led delegations from Ukraine and Russia. The Ukrainian team includes former head of military intelligence Kirill Budanov, who now serves as Zelensky’s chief of staff, while the Russian delegation is led by Igor Kostyukov, head of the GRU military intelligence service.

These are the same negotiators who met in Abu Dhabi in late January, which SAK, the Ukrainian adviser, said could help move things forward, at least on the technical aspects of a peace deal.

“When military people meet military people, they can make progress; they speak the same language,” he said. “Concrete measures and steps within security guarantees – military people from both sides are in a good position to discuss them.”

“I’m personally a little sceptical about some real results,” Sak said. “At the same time, I’m surrounded by people here in Ukraine who believe that some real results may soon be possible.” “When the time comes and the leaders meet, the nuances and details will be worked out, and hopefully we can reach an agreement that is just for Ukraine and just for the world.”