Russia and Ukraine hold a second day of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv on Wednesday held a second straight day of U.S.-brokered talks on ways of ending the war started by Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine nearly five years ago.

Hopes are low for any breakthrough in the first meeting in nine months between the delegations, although U.S. officials say they are determined to revive peace efforts that so far have failed to deliver significant results.

“We are starting the second day of negotiations,” Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service who leads Kyiv’s delegation in Abu Dhabi, said on social media.

The envoys met for four hours Tuesday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which was chosen as a neutral venue. The talks, mediated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff, were due to conclude later Wednesday.

The context of the negotiations has changed since the last meeting in February in Geneva. The Trump administration has to reckon with Democrats, who could demand more support for Ukraine, taking over the U.S. Congress in January following the U.S. midterm elections.

Also, Russia’s wartime economy is under heavy strain, and Ukraine is reeling from devastating aerial attacks on its power grid.

Umerov said that Wednesday would begin with three-way talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States, with Kyiv’s delegation meeting afterwards with European officials.

Moscow doesn’t want European countries, which are concerned about Russia’s conduct and broader intentions on the continent, involved in the direct negotiations. However, representatives of European governments, the European Union and NATO were in Abu Dhabi and were consulting with the Ukrainian delegation, officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday’s session was “constructive and quite substantive.”

The talks were largely about humanitarian issues, including possible prisoner exchanges and returning Ukrainian civilians in captivity, as well as children taken from the country, he said.

Security guarantees also were discussed, he said. However, Russia and Ukraine have shown no sign of a willingness to compromise on their demands.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the meeting “very productive,” while cautioning that a breakthrough on stopping the war will take time.

The Abu Dhabi talks are being held against the backdrop of continued fighting on the front line, where little territory has changed hands this year.

Meanwhile, both countries are battering each other with long-range missiles and drones.

Overnight, Russia struck the southern Zaporizhzhia region and the eastern city of Kharkiv, wounding seven civilians and damaging property.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 627 Ukrainian drones overnight, 150 of them over the region around St. Petersburg, according to the regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko.

He said that the drones started a fire at the port of Ust-Luga, one of the main facilities for Russian oil exports, injuring three workers.

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