Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine are set to meet for peace talks brokered by the United States in Abu Dhabi, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that recent gains on the battlefield had strengthened his country’s hand.
asserted
gains → set → hand
The meeting in the capital of the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday will be the third round of talks there this year, following security consultations in January and February.
asserted
meeting → follow → January
The US side is led by US President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have spearheaded Washington’s mediation.
asserted
who → lead → mediation
The three delegations last met in Geneva on February 18.
asserted
delegations → meet → February
“Ukrainian forces are currently genuinely strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating position,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Monday.
asserted
Zelenskyy → strengthen → Monday
He said Russia was “suffering record losses”, a claim Moscow disputes, and urged Washington to persuade the Kremlin to end the war.
uncertain
Moscow → say → war
Zelenskyy said General Mykhailo Drapatyi had presented a report on Ukraine’s military positions that pointed to heavy recent Russian losses, and that Ukraine’s long-range strikes on targets inside Russia, including oil facilities, were having an effect.
asserted
strikes → say → effect
“We are responding to Russia’s war in a fully justified manner and demonstrating that this war must end,” he said.
asserted
he → respond → manner
“Russia can do this.
asserted
Russia → do → this
It can end its war.
asserted
It → end → war
It is important that the United States convince Russia of precisely this.”
asserted
States → convince → this
‘Strong inclination’
In Washington, DC, Trump told reporters that he saw a “very strong inclination” towards ending the war and that both sides were “tired of fighting”.
asserted
sides → tell → fighting
“We’re having a very good conversation about that in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
asserted
he → have → Dhabi
Trump had promised to end the war quickly when he took office in January 2025, but a settlement has remained elusive nearly five years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
asserted
Russia → promise → February
A US official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, said on Monday that both Russia and Ukraine had privately shown some flexibility on a possible exchange of territory.
asserted
Russia → brief → territory
Security guarantees for Ukraine would be a central topic, the official said, including the possibility of a defence commitment modelled on Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty.
asserted
official → say → treaty
Ukraine wants Russia pushed back to the original border between the two countries, while Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to obtain all of the Donbas region.
asserted
Putin → want → region
Russia occupies roughly 20 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region.
asserted
Russia → occupy → region
The Russian move has not been recognised by the international community, but Trump has previously urged Kyiv to cede territory for a deal to end the war.
asserted
Trump → recognise → war
The US official said any territorial agreement would most likely come at the end of the negotiations, once other issues, including a post-war security framework, had been settled.
asserted
issues → say → framework
‘Ways to go’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meanwhile struck a cautious note, saying that the process to end the war still has “a ways to go”.
asserted
process → go → ways
“We’ll keep trying.
asserted
We → keep → ?
And that’s what we’ve been trying to do the whole time is try to be creative and find ways that we can help bring that conflict and that war to an end,” Rubio said.
asserted
Rubio → ’ → end
Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, will again lead the country’s delegation, according to The Kyiv Independent.
uncertain
Umerov → lead → Independent
Russia’s team will be headed by Vladimir Medinsky, a Kremlin aide, and will include Sergei Ryabkov, a deputy foreign minister, as well as Yuri Zhigarlovsky, a senior military officer.
asserted
team → head → Ryabkov
European powers, including France, Germany and the European Commission, will send officials to the talks in Abu Dhabi, but Russia has made it clear it doesn’t want the Europeans to take part in negotiations.
asserted
Europeans → include → negotiations
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the talks would focus on security guarantees.
asserted
talks → say → guarantees
European officials would not take part, he added, because the negotiations had been agreed to as a three-way format.
asserted
negotiations → take → format
“What will take place in Abu Dhabi in the coming days is trilateral negotiations between Russia and Ukraine with US mediation,” Peskov said.
asserted
Peskov → take → mediation
“As for the presence of Europeans, you know that the Americans have their own channels of communication with Europeans, and Ukrainians with Europeans.”
asserted
Americans → know → Europeans
The Aporia
