Peace talks on ending war to continue next week, says Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said peace talks will continue this coming week in Abu Dhabi (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)

The next round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, Volodymyr Zelensky has announced.

Envoys from Russia, Ukraine and the US had been expected to meet next week in Abu Dhabi to continue negotiations aimed at ending Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour.

The Ukrainian president said in a post on Telegram on Sunday: “We have just had a report from our negotiating team. The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set: Feb 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi.

“Ukraine is ready for substantive talks, and we are interested in an outcome that will bring us closer to a real and dignified end to the war.”

Temperatures have plunged across Ukraine this week, as the war nears its four-year anniversary (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

There was no immediate comment from US or Russian officials.

On Saturday afternoon, top Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said he had held a “constructive meeting with the US peacemaking delegation” in Florida.

Officials have so far revealed few details of the talks in Abu Dhabi, which are part of a year-long effort by the Trump administration to steer the sides towards a peace deal and end almost four years of all-out war.

While Ukrainian and Russian officials have agreed in principle with Washington’s calls for a compromise, Moscow and Kyiv differ deeply over what an agreement should look like.

A central issue is whether Russia should keep or withdraw from areas of Ukraine its forces have occupied, especially Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland called the Donbas, and whether it should get land there that it has not yet captured.