Russia-Ukraine Hold “Productive” First Day Talks Under US-Led Peace Plan

Russian and Ukrainian officials met face-to-face on Wednesday (February 4, 2026), in Abu Dhabi in West Asia in what Kyiv described as “productive” talks under a fresh US-brokered peace plan to end their four-year war.

But the war continued to rage with renewed intensity, indicating a widening gap between the battlefield and the diplomatic table.

The two-day trilateral meetings, involving delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the United States, was the first such structured diplomatic effort in months to end the war that began in February 2021.

US President Donald Trump had pushed for a peace framework to end the war, the key elements of which were under discussion during the talks, it is learned.

Ukrainian lead negotiator said the trilateral discussions focused on confidence-building measures, humanitarian corridors and the fragile energy infrastructure ceasefire proposed by Trump earlier this year.

After the first day of talks, no immediate breakthroughs were announced, but officials said channels of communication remained open. As the talks progressed, the backdrop was one of another violent phase in the war.

Days before the talks in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy charged Russia of exploiting a US-backed energy truce to regroup the military in the war on his nation.

His allegation was that Moscow used the pause in the attack on energy infrastructure to stock weapons and had launched numerous ballistic missile on Ukraine on Tuesday (February 3).

However, Russia disagreed with Zelenskyy’s description of the events and argued that the ceasefire and peace must address the “rootcauses” of the conflict, such as NATO expansion and Western military’s support to Ukraine.

Russia has also asked Ukraine to accept it conditions, including pulling out its troops from Donbas, apart from international recognition to territories it currently holds.

Moscow, meanwhile, accused Kyiv of violating the previous ceasefire arrangements, particularly on energy facilities and the borders between the two nations.

For the US, bringing the two warring nations to the discussion table to talk about peace and full ceasefire is a major win in its peace plan.

Its officials have framed the present talks as one of the steps in achieving “a comprehensive peace deal” focused on reducing human casualties, apart from stabilising the currently volatile energy markets, apart from laying the groundwork for future talks.

Abu Dhabi became the trilateral talks venue to reflect the increasing role of the West Asian nations as neutral players in achieving peace between Russia and Ukraine.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) previously facilitated prisoner exchanges and backchannel communications between the warring nations.

Despite the warring sides come to the negotiation table, the battleground realities pose a huge challenge faced by the US-led peace plan.

Ukraine has pressed for Western military support to it even after the peace plan is agreed upon and implemented on the ground.

Russia, however, has not slowed down on its military operations, unless Ukraine agrees to its conditions to stop the war.

Previous negotiations have repeatedly stalled over what was going on in the battlefield.

The second day of the Abu Dhabi talks have heightened expectations after Ukraine reacted positively to the first day negotiations.