Ukrainian and Russian negotiators held their first direct trilateral peace discussions with the United States since Moscow's full-scale invasion nearly four years ago in Abu Dhabi on January 23 and 24, but the two-day meeting concluded without agreement as Russia maintained territorial demands rejected by Kyiv, according to Ukrainian media. 

The US-brokered negotiations, hosted by the United Arab Emirates, centred on the contested Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, with the Kremlin demanding complete control of the territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said ahead of the talks that the "question of Donbass is key," whilst stating separately that "the most important thing is that Russia should be ready to end this war, which it started".

Russia's delegation, led by Admiral Igor Kostyukov, director of the GRU military intelligence agency, maintained Moscow's insistence that Ukrainian forces withdraw entirely from Donbas. Ukraine's team, headed by National Security and Defence Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, insisted any settlement must respect internationally recognised borders.

Following the first day of discussions, Umerov said the meeting focused "on the parameters for ending Russia's war and the further logic of the negotiation process". A White House official described the session as "productive," though no substantive agreement was reached.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Ukrainian forces "must be withdrawn" from Donbas, calling it "a very important condition". Yuri Ushakov, a senior aide to Vladimir Putin, stated that "reaching a long-term settlement can't be expected without solving the territorial issue".

The negotiations unfolded as Russia intensified aerial attacks on Ukraine's power infrastructure, creating what officials described as the worst energy crisis since the war began. Ukraine's grid operator reported the situation had "significantly worsened," with emergency power outages affecting most regions.