The second round of talks between Russian, Ukrainian, and American officials on a U.S. draft plan to end the four-year war in Ukraine will begin on Wednesday instead of this Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced.
He did not provide further details regarding the postponement of the meeting.
The announcement comes one day after special envoys of Russian President Vladimir Putin held unannounced meetings with U.S. officials in Florida, without Ukraine’s participation.
“The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set – February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi,” Zelensky said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Neither the United States nor the Kremlin has confirmed the new dates.
The United States has stated that it is close to mediating an agreement to end the conflict — the deadliest in Europe since World War II — but both Moscow and Kyiv have failed to reach compromise on several territorial issues.
Russia, which has occupied around 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, insists that full control of the Donetsk region must be part of any agreement. Moscow has threatened to seize the region by force if negotiations fail.
Ukraine, on the other hand, insists that ceding territory would only strengthen Moscow and says it will not sign an agreement unless it prevents Russia from launching another invasion in the future.
Many Ukrainians oppose the idea of surrendering territories for which thousands of soldiers have fought since the beginning of the war.
The first round of talks on the U.S. plan, held in Abu Dhabi last weekend, failed to produce any results.
The war in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin refers to the war as a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine.
The West has responded by imposing harsh sanctions on Russia’s economy.
As a result of the war, thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced from their homes. /RFE/RL
