Zelenskyy on Sunday announced that the next round of trilateral peace talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States will be held in Abu Dhabi later this week, even as fighting continues on the ground.
The next round of trilateral peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, facilitated by the United States, will be held on Wednesday and Thursday next week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the US are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi to continue negotiations aimed at ending Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Announcing the dates, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to engage seriously in the talks.
“We have just received a report from our negotiating team. The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set for February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi. Ukraine is ready for substantive talks and is interested in an outcome that brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.
On Saturday, Russia’s top envoy Kirill Dmitriev said he had held a “constructive meeting” with the US peacemaking delegation in Florida. Officials have so far revealed few details about the Abu Dhabi talks, which form part of the Trump administration’s year-long effort to steer both sides towards a peace deal after nearly four years of war.
While both Moscow and Kyiv have broadly accepted Washington’s call for compromise, major differences remain over the shape of any settlement.
A central point of disagreement is whether Russia should withdraw from Ukrainian territories it currently occupies, particularly the eastern industrial Donbas region, and whether it should retain or gain control over areas it has not fully captured.
Drone strike hits maternity hospital
Even as diplomatic efforts continue, fighting on the ground has persisted. Russian attack drones struck a maternity hospital in southern Ukraine on Sunday, Ukrainian emergency services said.
The strike wounded three women at the facility in Zaporizhzhia and sparked a fire in the gynaecology reception area, which was later extinguished.
Temporary pause in strikes questioned
The attack came days after US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to temporarily halt strikes on Kyiv and other cities as Ukraine faces severe winter conditions.
The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that it would pause attacks on the capital until Sunday but declined to provide further details, making independent verification difficult.
Continued strikes on infrastructure
In recent days, Russian forces have hit energy infrastructure in Odesa in southern Ukraine and Kharkiv in the northeast. A strike on the Kyiv region last Wednesday killed two people and injured four others, underscoring the fragile nature of any pause in hostilities.
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