Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin must be ready to end war he started, says Zelensky after first day of peace talks

Russia has floated the idea of using the bulk of nearly $5 billion of Russian assets frozen in the United States to fund a recovery of Russian-occupied territory inside Ukraine.

Ukraine, backed by European allies, demands that Russia pay it reparations.

Asked about Russia’s idea, Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed it as “nonsense”.

Ukrainian, Russian and US envoys met in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the first known instance that officials from the Trump administration have sat down with both countries as part of Washington’s push for progress to end Moscow’s nearly 4-year-old invasion.

The talks follow a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent days, from Switzerland to the Kremlin, even though serious obstacles remain between both sides.

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday that a potential peace deal was “nearly ready,” certain sensitive sticking points – most notably those related to territorial issues – remain unresolved.

Ukraine’s energy situation “significantly” worsened on Friday after recent Russian air attacks, triggering emergency power outages in most regions, Kyiv’s grid operator said.

The grim assessment followed a remark by Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal on Thursday that Ukraine’s energy system had endured its most difficult day since a widespread blackout in November 2022, when Russia began bombing the power grid.

In new comments on Friday, Shmyhal said the situation with the grid remained difficult, but he expected things to stabilise somewhat.

Moscow has stepped up air strikes in recent weeks, further damaging battered infrastructure and leaving large numbers of residents without power and heating during a subzero cold snap.

Several power generation facilities are undergoing emergency repairs as a result of the combined drone and missile attacks, Ukrenergo said on the Telegram messaging app.

“The equipment is operating at the limits of its capabilities,” it said, adding that power blocks were carrying a “tremendous” overload due to earlier damage from Russian strikes.

Speaking to Reuters on Friday, Maxim Timchenko, CEO of Ukraine’s top private energy firm, said the situation was “close to a humanitarian catastrophe” and that any future peace deal between Russia and Ukraine must include a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure.

In his latest comments, Shmyhal said there were significant power shortages, but added: “Thanks to the coordinated actions of Ukrenergo and distribution system operators, we are seeing a trend towards partial stabilisation.”

On Friday talks commenced between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators, brokered by the US. This was the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, that all three nations have held talks.

The UAE’s foreign ministry said the talks are “part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis.”

The White House described the talks as productive and said conversations would continue on Saturday.

Key topics of discussion include territorial dispute, specifically focusing on the future of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Both sides have indicated that a possible peace deal hinges on the apparently still unresolved issue of territory.

Ukraine has been pushing for security guarantees from the West to prevent Russia from invading its territory again.

For the first time ever, Russia, Ukraine and the US will get around the table together for a trilateral meeting to discuss peace on Friday.

The historic talks will take place in Abu Dhabi and come hours after a “frank” and “constructive” late-night discussion between US special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and President Vladimir Putin.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, freedom to advance its Nato ambitions and EU membership aspirations and to maintain a large military to deter the threat of future Russian aggression.

The head of Ukraine’s national security and defence council has said today’s meeting “focused on the parameters for ending Russia’s war”.

Rustem Umerov, who is a member of the Ukrainian team at the peace talks, said in a post on X this evening: “The meeting focused on the parameters for ending Russia’s war and the further logic of the negotiation process aimed at advancing toward a dignified and lasting peace. Additional meetings are scheduled for tomorrow.”

In his evening address to the nation late Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian delegation attending the talks reported to him “almost every hour”.

“They are discussing the parameters for ending the war,” he said. “By now, our team should already have at least some answers from Russia. The key is that Russia must be ready to end the war it started.”

He added that “it’s too early to draw conclusions about the content of today’s negotiations – we’ll see how the conversation goes tomorrow and what the results will be. It’s not just about Ukraine’s desire to end this war and achieve full security – it’s also about Russia somehow developing a similar desire”.