Ukraine, Russia negotiators hold tense talks in Abu Dhabi

Where Diplomacy Meets News

Ukraine, Russia negotiators hold tense talks in Abu Dhabi

January 24, 2026

ABU DHABI,— Ukrainian and Russian delegations held talks in Abu Dhabi on Friday focused on territorial disputes, as fighting continued and Russian strikes deepened what Ukrainian officials describe as the most severe energy disruption of the war that began nearly four years ago.

The meeting, which included representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, centered on land controlled by Russian forces and areas still held by Kyiv.

No agreement was announced following the first day of discussions, and officials on both sides indicated major differences remain.

The negotiations come as Ukraine faces growing pressure from Washington to explore a political settlement to the conflict that began when Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Moscow has made clear it will not end military operations unless Ukraine agrees to relinquish control of the entire Donbas region, a heavily industrialized area in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said territory was the main topic of the talks and confirmed that discussions were scheduled to continue through Saturday. In comments posted on Telegram, Zelenskiy said Russia must demonstrate readiness to end the war it initiated.

He said he remains in close contact with Ukraine’s negotiating team but said it was too soon to assess the outcome of the talks.

Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council and head of the Ukrainian delegation, said the discussions addressed potential frameworks for ending the war and outlined steps for continuing negotiations.

The talks followed Zelenskiy’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this week.

Zelenskiy said Friday that an agreement on U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine has been finalized, and that he is waiting for Trump to set a date and location for signing.

Kyiv has repeatedly called for binding security assurances from Western partners, saying any peace deal without such guarantees would leave the country vulnerable to renewed attacks by Russia.

The diplomatic efforts are taking place amid intensified Russian airstrikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Power and heating outages have been reported in major cities, including Kyiv, as temperatures fall well below freezing.

Maxim Timchenko, chief executive of Ukraine’s largest private power producer, told Reuters that the situation is approaching a humanitarian crisis.

He said Ukraine needs a ceasefire that explicitly halts attacks on energy facilities to stabilize living conditions.

Ukraine’s energy minister said on Thursday that the country’s power grid experienced its most difficult day since November 2022, when widespread blackouts followed a wave of Russian strikes on power stations and transmission lines.

Moscow has said it remains open to diplomacy but will continue military operations until its objectives are met. One of Russia’s key demands is that Ukraine give up the portion of the Donetsk region it still controls, roughly 5,000 square kilometers.

Zelenskiy has rejected surrendering territory that Russian forces have not captured after years of fighting. Public opinion surveys cited by Ukrainian officials show limited support among the population for territorial concessions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s demand that Ukraine yield all of Donbas remains a critical condition for any agreement.

A source close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Moscow favors what it calls the Anchorage formula, which Russian officials say was discussed between Trump and President Vladimir Putin during a summit in Alaska last August.

The plan would grant Russia control of Donbas while freezing current front lines in other eastern and southern regions.

Donetsk is one of four regions Russia claimed to annex in 2022 following referendums that Ukraine and Western governments rejected. Most countries continue to recognize the region as part of Ukraine.

Russia has also proposed using nearly $5 billion in Russian assets frozen in the United States to fund reconstruction in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces.

Ukraine and its European allies have instead called for reparations paid directly by Moscow.

Zelenskiy dismissed the proposal while speaking in Davos, calling it unacceptable.

He also said the Abu Dhabi talks marked the first formal trilateral negotiations involving Ukrainian and Russian officials with U.S. mediation since the war began.

Previous direct talks took place last year in Istanbul, and separate contacts involving military intelligence officials were held in Abu Dhabi in November.

(With files from Reuters)