Ukraine, Russia and the United States resumed trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, the first such round since February, according to Euronews. The talks opened as Russian strikes hit Ukraine’s power grid.
US envoy Witkoff and Kushner were present alongside negotiators from Russia and Ukraine, according to NPR World. The day began with a meeting of Ukrainian, American and European representatives, Euronews reported.
Ukrainian prime minister Sergii Koretskyi said Russia attacked 10 Ukrainian regions overnight, hitting five major energy substations in the Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia and Kirovohrad regions, according to the Guardian. The Guardian article does not give a date for the overnight attacks.
Russian attacks killed at least nine people and injured 39 others across Ukraine over the past day, according to a Kyiv Independent report cited by the Guardian. The Guardian did not directly review that report, so the casualty figures rest on a secondhand source.
President Zelenskyy accused Russia of intensifying strikes across the country to put pressure on Kyiv at the Abu Dhabi talks, the Guardian reported. No response from Russia to that accusation was reported.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said Ukraine’s priorities are ending hostilities, securing post-war security guarantees, economic recovery and humanitarian measures, according to Euronews.
A US official said Ukraine and Russia have privately shown "a little bit of flexibility" over disputed territory, Euronews reported, without giving details. The official was not named, and no further explanation was given.
The central dispute is territory. According to Euronews, Moscow demands that Ukraine recognise Russian control over Crimea and the four regions it claims to have annexed, and that Ukraine withdraw from all four. Kyiv rejects these demands.
Euronews also reported, citing US media reports based on US officials, that Washington and Moscow discussed security guarantees for Ukraine resembling NATO’s Article 4 and Article 5, and reviving the NATO-Russia Council, which has been suspended since 2022. Trump suggested Ukraine could emerge from the war with "a little bit different shape", without specifying territorial changes, Euronews reported.
No outcome of the Abu Dhabi talks was reported in the sources available. The NPR World account was available only as a headline and short excerpt, so its details could not be checked beyond that summary, and the key facts about the talks’ participants rest largely on it and on Euronews.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv will propose de-escalation steps in Abu Dhabi and seek agreement on arranging a trilateral leaders’ meeting, according to the reports. Umerov said the talks will align positions ahead of the next trilateral stage with Russia.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.