Peace talks put to test at UAE meeting

Negotiators from the US, Ukraine and Russia held peace talks in the same room in Abu Dhabi, pictures show.

That is the first visual confirmation that all three sides sat in the room and discussed a plan to end Russia’s war.

But there’s no concrete outcome of the meeting yet, with talks to take place once again tomorrow, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The key sticking point remains the question of territory in Ukraine’s east, that Moscow has been clear that it wants in full. Ukraine has said it won’t budge.

The meeting takes place as many in Ukraine remain without power or heat as a result of ongoing Russian attacks.

Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said in a post on social media that the talks focused on the “parameters” for ending Russia’s war and “logic of the negotiation process” aimed at advancing lasting peace.

“Additional meetings are scheduled for tomorrow. Tomorrow, the Head of the General Staff, General Andrii Hnatov, and the Deputy Head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Vadym Skibitskyi, will join the Ukrainian delegation,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media his delegation should have answers from Russia by now.

“The key is that Russia must be ready to end the war it started,” Zelenskyy said.

“As for the substance of today’s discussions, it is still too early to draw conclusions,” he said. “We will see how the conversation develops tomorrow and what results it produces.”

The talks involving Ukraine, the US and Russia have concluded for the day in the United Arab Emirates, the Ukrainian presidency said.

The discussions were the first trilateral talks aimed at finding options for bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to an end.

Previously, the sides had discussed proposals separately, holding bilateral meetings with US representatives.

This is the first time they have sat at the same table. 

DW takes a closer look at what can be expected and some of the key role players involved in the Abu Dhabi talks, which are scheduled to continue Saturday.

The French navy has diverted the “Grinch” oil tanker it detained on Thursday towards the ⁠port ‍of Marseille-Fos for further investigation, sources close to ⁠the investigation told reporters on ‌Friday.

The French military suspected the tanker was operating under a false flag and ‌intercepted ⁠it. Officials believe it belongs to the so-called shadow fleet of vessels that enable Russia to circumvent sanctions and export oil.

The tanker, which was flying under a Comoros flag, was seized shortly after it entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Straits of Gibraltar. It is expected to arrive in the southern French port on Saturday.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday announced that the French Navy, with the support of allies, had intercepted a vessel “subject to international sanctions.” and suspected of flying a false flag.

The ​case is being investigated by the prosecutor of Marseille, ⁠who ​handles maritime law. 

Talks between Ukrainian and Russian representatives, mediated by the US, have begun in Abu Dhabi. 

“The talks commenced today in Abu Dhabi and are scheduled to continue over two days, as part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis,” Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said. 

Igor Kosyukov, the head of the Russian military intelligence organization GRU, is expected to lead the Russian delegation in the talks. 

Former Minister of Defense and top national security official Rustem Umerov will lead the Ukrainian side, along with Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov and several other representatives. 

US Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff will be attending the talks, along with US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner currently has no official title in the Trump administration.   

The EU on Friday announced it would be sending some 447 emergency generators to Ukraine in an effort to bring relief to residents of the country’s beleaguered capital as Russia continues to target Ukraine’s power grid in the dead of winter. 

Moscow’s most recent strikes forced Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko to implore the city’s 1 million residents to seek temporary shelter outside the capital. The targeted strikes are part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual attempts to break the will of Ukrainians by trying to freeze them into submission each winter since he launched the illegal full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Temperatures in the capital are currently hovering around -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) as electrical engineers attempt to restore heat and electricity. 

The bloc said the generators, worth some €3.7 ‌million ($4.3 million), will be dispatched from strategic reserves in Poland and distributed ‍to “restore power to hospitals, shelters and critical services” in cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross.

“Russia’s ​continued attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure… are designed to break Ukrainian spirit,” European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib said in a statement.

Since the start of the Russian invasion almost four years ago, the EU has sent more than 9,500 generators to Ukraine.

Additionally, the European Commission says it has provided more than €1.2 billion in humanitarian aid to protect Ukraine’s civilian population, as well as another €3 billion for energy security.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday said territorial issues will be a key point of focus during negotiations between Ukrainian, Russian and US representatives this Friday and Saturday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The Donbas is a key issue,” said Zelenskyy.

The eastern region has been the scene of clashes for years, with Russia now demanding that Ukrainian troops withdraw and Moscow receive control over the contested area.   

Despite US efforts to bring the conflict to a close before it enters its fifth year, Russia has consistently shown an unwillingness to engage in good-faith negotiations to end its failed invasion.  

At the moment, Russian forces control nearly 90% of the Donbas region.Ukraine has refused to withdraw its troops from the area.

Though the sides are at loggerheads over a number of issues, they appear to agree on one thing: the region’s significance.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Russia’s position is known: Ukraine and the Ukrainian armed forces must leave the Donbas.”

As the US, Ukrainian and Russian representatives are set to take part in peace talks in Abu Dhabi, here are some other latest events in the conflict for readers now joining us:   

• The Kremlin says Ukrainian forces must leave the eastern Donbas region
•  A multi-billion dollar  ‘prosperity framework’ between Ukraine and US is nearly done
• Russian oil depot in Penza on fire after Ukraine’s drone strike
• Successful Trump-Zelenskyy meeting in Davos, with Trump calling it an ‘ongoing process’

Munich Security Conference (MSC) Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger, in an interview aired by German public broadcaster ZDF on Friday, railed against what he called the “circus” that ensued at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, after US President Donald Trump  stood before world leaders to insist that the US be given possession of the semi-autonomous territory of Greenland, which has belonged to NATO ally Denmark for centuries.

“All I can say is that it missed the point,” said Ischinger, who called the discussion of Trump’s proposed Greenland scheme “harmful” and “completely unnecessary.”

“We should have sent the Russian side a signal from Davos that this war must finally come to an end,” said the German former diplomat.

Despite the difficulty of dealing with Trump, Ischinger said it is important to keep him on board, noting that there would be no hope at all of attaining a ceasefire in Ukraine without the US. 

“There are still major questions about the extent to which Russia is really willing to move away from its maximalist demands,” said German government spokesperson Steffen Meyer on Friday while speaking of peace negotiations getting underway in Abu Dhabi.

Meyer’s comments came after Russia reiterated its demand for control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

Meyer said Germany and other EU allies remain “very closely involved” in negotiations and noted that any agreement reached “must be geared toward achieving long-term and sustainable peace.”

“Nothing would be gained if a peace agreement ultimately only gave Russia breathing space and allowed it to launch new attacks at a later date,” said Meyer. “That is why we have focused so strongly on the issue of security guarantees” for Kyiv.

Meyer declined to comment on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s blistering address Thursday at the World Economic Forum.

In it, Zelenskyy offered an unapologetic critique of the EU’s timid response to Russia’s nearly four-year assault on his country, accusing Europe of being handicapped by its own “mindset and arguing that the bloc “remains a fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers” despite having the potential to be “a global force.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday reiterated President Vladimir Putin’s goal of cementing Russian control over Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

“It is well known that Russia’s position is that Ukraine and the Ukrainian armed ‍forces should leave the territory of Donbas, they must be withdrawn from there,” said Peskov, adding, “This is a very important condition.”

Peskov made the remarks as Ukrainian, Russian and American representatives are due to meet in Abu Dhabi for fresh peace talks.

Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that the Donbas remained “a key issue” ahead of the meeting.

“God willing (the talks will lead) to ending the war,” he said. “It could go differently, but it’s a step.”

A multi-billion dollar Ukraine “prosperity framework” is nearly ready, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

Speaking after an EU summit in Brussels, von der Leyen said the bloc was coordinating with the US and Ukraine, ading that they were “close to an agreement.”

“We are talking about a single document representing the collective vision of the Ukrainians, the Americans and Europe for Ukraine’s post-war future,” she said. “It draws on the needs assessment work of the World Bank and it proposes a response that is built around five different pillars.”

The plan would address business-friendly reforms and stronger market competition. It would also work on accelerating Ukraine’s integration into the EU single market, von der Leyen said.

The European Commission president stopped short of saying whether Brussels would offer Ukraine a concrete EU membership timeline, a goal Kyiv has strived to fast-track since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Ukraine has attacked an oil storage facility in the Russian city of Penza, around 500 kilometers (roughly 300 miles) southeast of Moscow, using fixed-wing drones, regional authorities said.

Penza Governor Oleg Melnychenko said air defenses shot down four drones and that debris from one of them fell onto the oil depot, starting a fire.

He said preliminary information indicated there were no deaths or injuries. The fire broke out at the depot at around 4 a.m. local time, with 26 firefighters and 14 fire engines deployed to the scene, according to the official.

He said emergency services were continuing efforts to extinguish the fire.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses destroyed a total of 12 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones overnight.

Ukraine has been focusing its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure for months, particularly refineries in the country’s southern regions, targeting fuel production and supply linked to the Russian military.

The Kremlin has confirmed that trilateral peace talks between Russia , Ukraine and the United States will take place in Abu Dhabi today (Friday).

According to President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin delegation heading to the United Arab Emirates will be led by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.

Ushakov said Russia’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev would hold separate meetings with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss economic issues.

Ushakov said the trilateral meeting is on “security issues” and is expected to last for two days.

“We are genuinely interested in resolving (the conflict) through political and diplomatic means,” he said, but added, “Until that happens, Russia will continue to achieve its objectives… on the battlefield.”

The confirmation of Russia’s attendance came after President Vladimir Putin met with Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Moscow late on Thursday.