President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says U.S.-backed negotiations with Russia resume this week in Abu Dhabi as freezing temperatures sweep Ukraine and doubts linger over the durability of an energy truce.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
U.S.-backed talks involving Ukraine and Russia are set to take place this week in Abu Dhabi, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday, as plunging temperatures across Ukraine compounded uncertainty over the fate of a fragile pause in attacks on energy infrastructure.
Kyiv is under pressure from Washington to pursue an end to the nearly four-year war, even as Russia continues air strikes that have battered Ukraine’s power system during one of the coldest winters in years. The first round of negotiations, held in late January, failed to produce progress on core issues, particularly territory, with Moscow still demanding that Ukraine cede additional land in the east—an outcome Kyiv has repeatedly rejected.
Zelenskyy said the next round of talks would take place on Feb. 4 and 5 and that Ukraine was prepared for a “substantive discussion” despite continued Russian advances on the battlefield.
“Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” Zelenskyy wrote.
The talks come as severe cold grips the country. In the capital, Kyiv, about 1,000 apartment buildings remained without heating on Sunday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Temperatures hovered near minus 15 degrees Celsius as crews worked to restore heat after a widespread grid malfunction Saturday affected nearly 3,500 high-rise buildings.
Officials did not directly attribute the malfunction to war damage, but the resulting blackouts—some of which spread into neighboring Moldova—highlighted the vulnerability of Ukraine’s energy system after months of Russian attacks.
The Kremlin said two days earlier that it had agreed, at the request of President Donald Trump, to halt strikes on energy infrastructure until Sunday, a move Kyiv said it would reciprocate. Ukrainian officials said the suspension was intended to last through the following Friday.
Neither side has reported major recent strikes on energy facilities, though Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russia was continuing air attacks aimed at “destroy[ing] logistics and connectivity between cities and communities.”
Overnight violence continued elsewhere. In southeastern Ukraine, two people were killed in a drone strike on a residential building in Dnipro, and six were wounded in an attack on a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia, regional officials said.
Forecasts indicated temperatures in Kyiv could fall to well below minus 20 degrees Celsius on Monday, increasing pressure on heating and power systems. Private energy firm DTEK said it restored electricity to about 300,000 households in the southern coastal region of Odesa, which was hit hard by the outage. Grid operator Ukrenergo said late Saturday that planned power cuts would be implemented nationwide.
Among residents, skepticism about diplomacy remained. Anatoliy Veresenko, a 65-year-old veteran jogging in a Kyiv park, said he was bracing for further attacks and placed limited hope in the negotiations.
“Talks are talks,” he said. “We hope for peace, but we still need to fight and secure victory.”