Russia has warned Ukraine that it will not stop fighting until Kyiv makes what the Kremlin considers the right “decisions” to end the conflict as the first day of peace talks between the parties ended on Wednesday.
Two-day trilateral meetings took place in Abu Dhabi and are set to continue on Thursday as US-brokered negotiations desperately seek to end the nearly four-year conflict.
President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner led the US delegation while Ukraine was represented by Rustem Umerov and Russia by military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.
However, despite reports that the discussions were constructive, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russian troops would continue to fight until Kyiv made the right “decisions”.
Moscow wants Kyiv to pull its troops out of the embattled Donetsk region – including a belt of highly fortified cities regarded as one of Ukraine’s strongest defences – effectively forfeiting the territory. Ukraine has maintained that territory should be frozen at the current frontlines. The issue has remained an immovable sticking point throughout negotiations.
Nevertheless, Umerov said that the first day of meetings had been “substantive and productive”, adding that talks had focused on “concrete steps and practical solutions”.
Each party to the negotiation reportedly met in a separate group to discuss specific topics before the joint meeting with other parties in an effort to reach an agreement.
The discussions came as Russia continued its overnight attacks on Ukraine, firing 105 drones on the night of 3-4 February, having launched a record number of ballistic missiles the night before.
In Donetsk, at least seven people were killed and eight injured in an attack using cluster munitions on the Ukraine controlled frontline in the town of Druzhkivka.
The attack targeted the market, and dropped two aerial bombs, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messaging app.
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of violating a temporary truce agreement personally requested by Mr Trump to give provide some reprieve during the cold winter period. However, Mr Zelensky said would adjust its position accordingly in light of the attacks on Tuesday.
A spokesperson of the European Commission accused Vladimir Putin of abusing the ceasefire talks to attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine on Wednesday.
Anitta Hopper told reporters that the Russian president can “end this war right now”.
She added: “He doesn’t show any signs of wanting to do so. He misuses even the discussions on the ceasefire to continuously attack the civilian infrastructure and kill innocent people”.
Elsewhere, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Donald Trump held phone talks. The US president, who said he has an extremely good personal relationship with Xi, said the pair discussed the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as several other topics including Taiwan, Iran, and the purchase of oil and gas from China by the US.
The Kremlin had advance warning of the call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said according to Interfax news agency, which came after Vladimir Putin also spoke to Xi on Wednesday.
The Kremlin also said on Wednesday that working level talks between Russia and France were under way, ahead of a possible meeting between Putin and Emmanuel Macron.
Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said there was nothing to announce for now when it came to the possibly meeting of the presidents.
The French leader said on Tuesday that he was looking at resuming contact with Putin on the war in Ukraine even though he saw little readiness from Moscow to negotiate a ceasefire and that discussions were taking place at a technical level.
Source: independent.co.uk