VLAD LAND DEMANDS

Donbas focus in Abu Dhabi peace talks

- BY KAMILA HRABCHUK and KOSTYA MANENKOV

NEGOTIATORS from Ukraine, Russia and the United States have been meeting for peace talks in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE's foreign ministry said the talks commenced yesterday and are scheduled to continue over two days "as part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis".

Volodymyr Zelensky said the future of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region will be a key focus as negotiators from all three nations hold talks for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago.

The three-way talks come hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the settlement in Ukraine with US President Donald Trump's envoys during marathon overnight talks.

The Kremlin insisted to reach a peace deal, Kyiv must withdraw its troops from the areas in the east that Russia illegally annexed but never fully captured.

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