Arya News - Ukraine peace talks are set to resume on Wednesday after an intitial round saw Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. sat at the same table for the first time.
Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators will resume trilateral talks on ending the war in Ukraine in the United Arab Emirates, Moscow said Monday.
"We can confirm that this second round [of talks on security] will take place in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Thursday ," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov said the date had been pushed back from Sunday, as originally agreed, to allow all sides to make necessary adjustments to their schedules.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier confirmed the resumption of the talks, saying that all three sides would participate.
There had been uncertainty whether the sides would pick up from the first round of talks in Abu Dhabi, which ran two days beginning Jan. 23, and if so, whether the negotiations would be three-way or between Ukraine and Russia only.
"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war," said Zelensky.
He added that he would meet Monday with his negotiating team to prepare a framework for the meetings ahead of what he said he expected to be a very busy month, diplomatically, during which the U.S. side would push to decrease the intensity of Russian attacks on Ukraine"s urban centers.
"We expect that the American side will be just as active, particularly with regard to de-escalation measures -- reducing strikes -- and much depends on what the American side manages to achieve," Zelensky said.
The statements out of Moscow and Kyiv came after Russian forces paused attacks on "Kyiv and various towns" during the current cold snap at U.S. President Donald Trump"s request and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with lead Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev in Miami on Saturday.
Despite only Kyiv being spared by the respite, which the Kremlin said was aimed at creating favorable conditions for talks, it has raised expectations with Zelensky linking Ukrainians" faith in the peace process to measurable progress in reducing the scale of attacks and a possible energy cease-fire.
Attacks targeting civilian infrastructure elsewhere have continued even as work crews in Kyiv battle to restore electricity and heat to residents in thousands of buildings already cut off by waves of Russian strikes specifically aimed at depriving them of any means of keeping warm.