Ukraine, Russia, and US Launch Historic Talks in Abu Dhabi to End War

Ukraine, Russia and the United States opened unprecedented trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on Friday, in what all sides described as the most serious attempt yet to find a political path out of the nearly four‑year war, even as Russian strikes continued to hit Ukrainian infrastructure.bbc +1 The two‑day meeting in the United Arab Emirates brought together senior security officials from Kyiv, Moscow and Washington, following a flurry of shuttle diplomacy in Davos and Moscow this week.bbc +2

What Is on the Table in Abu Dhabi?

The talks, running 23–24 January, were billed as the first known three‑way meeting of Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. representatives since Russia’s full‑scale invasion in February 2022.cnn +1 Ukraine’s delegation was led by National Security and Defence Council chief Rustem Umerov and included military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov, while Russia’s team was fronted by GRU chief Igor Kostyukov, according to multiple outlets.bbc +2

U.S. envoys tied to President Donald Trump’s new “Board of Peace,” including businessman Steve Witkoff, arrived directly from late‑night talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, which the Kremlin described as “substantive” and “frank.”bbc +2 Witkoff said negotiators had “got it down to one issue,” describing a potential deal as “solvable,” though he did not spell out the remaining obstacle.aljazeera +1 Officials and analysts pointed to territory, security guarantees for Ukraine, and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as the core unresolved files.cnn +2

Territory, Security and a Possible ‘Energy Truce’

Moscow signalled ahead of the talks that its price for any settlement remained steep. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov repeated demands that Ukrainian forces withdraw from parts of the Donbas, saying Kyiv “must be withdrawn from there… This is a very important condition.”theguardian +2 Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory, including large parts of Luhansk and swathes of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.cnn

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in Davos on Thursday, called the trilateral meeting a “step towards ending the war” but insisted the dispute was “all about the land,” particularly Ukraine’s east.bbc +2 Kyiv has floated the idea of limited troop pullbacks of up to 40km in parts of Donbas if Russia reciprocates, but has rejected outright ceding territory Russia does not yet control.cnn +1

Another sensitive proposal expected in Abu Dhabi was a narrow “energy ceasefire,” under which Russia would halt strikes on Ukrainian power and heating infrastructure in exchange for Kyiv pausing attacks on Russia’s energy facilities.caliber +2 Recent Russian barrages have left more than a million Ukrainians without heating or electricity at times this winter, sharpening pressure for at least a partial relief.cnn

The Bigger Picture

European allies largely welcomed any move toward talks but voiced concern that U.S.-driven diplomacy could sideline them and push Ukraine into territorial concessions they oppose.theguardian +2 For now, the Abu Dhabi format underscored both the depth of the battlefield deadlock and the narrow channel that still exists for high‑stakes bargaining over land, security guarantees and the energy war — issues that will define not just how this conflict ends, but the shape of Europe’s security order that follows.