Ukraine frontline mapped: The land in dispute as peace talks end without breakthrough
Negotiators for Russia and Ukraine emerged from a second day of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday confident about progress towards a long-awaited peace deal, despite lingering differences over territory.
Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that mutual understanding had been achieved on some issues and that more talks would be held, adding that the two sides had agreed on a large-scale prisoner swap.
Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said that there was “good momentum” towards reaching a solution by the end of this year, but that Europe should also be represented in future discussions.
This week’s talks in the United Arab Emirates marked a restart for diplomacy some nine months after delegations last met in Geneva to discuss peace terms.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky voiced concerns in February that Kyiv was being asked “too often” to make concessions as Moscow stuck to its maximalist demands for land in Ukraine’s mineral-rich east.
The last year has seen Ukraine test Russia’s resilience with expanded strikes on major businesses and energy infrastructure across the border, piling pressure onto the Kremlin to end what has become a costly and gruelling attritional conflict.
But Moscow has benefited from concessions from an increasingly favourable United States, which temporarily waived sanctions in October and cut a deal to facilitate the export of Russian diesel.
US president Donald Trump had tried to orchestrate an ‘energy ceasefire’ between the two sides to rein in attacks on oil refineries and keep down global prices lifted by his own war with Iran.
But when Russia apparently ignored the truce last month, Ukraine restarted its attacks on Russian infrastructure and drew Trump’s ire.
Kyiv subsequently reported difficulty with its Starlink communications service and officials said they were no longer receiving reliable US warnings of incoming Russian attacks.
The White House said there had been no changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and tensions since appear to have calmed: by the end of October, the US had approved the sale of 500 much needed Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine.
But in comments to NBC’s Meet the Press, Zelensky acknowledged that Ukraine would not be able to “prevail” if the United States “officially” takes Russia’s side in the conflict.
President Trump has positioned himself as a key mediator in the conflict since returning to office last year. But he has fairly consistently argued that Ukraine will have to give up land to end the nearly five-year war.
In an interview with 60 Minutes only on November 9, Trump said he expected a peace deal, but that Ukraine was “going to end up with a little bit [of a] different shape”.
