Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators are set to resume talks for the first time since February on ending the nearly five-year war, with security guarantees expected to dominate discussions.
The two-day session starting Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, follows previous negotiations early this year that failed to produce any visible progress toward ending Europe’s most devastating conflict since World War II.
The talks follow last month's localized truce around the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine that was brokered with the help of U.S. first lady Melania Trump and allowed the evacuation of some of its residents and the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian supplies.
But even as Moscow and Kyiv touted the weeklong cease-fire as a positive model, fierce fighting has continued along the 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) front line. Both sides have also escalated their long-range attacks on each other with drones and missiles.
Russia has intensified its strikes on Ukraine’s power system, seeking to undermine the country’s resolve as winter sets in. Moscow has relied on ballistic missiles and new, faster jet-powered drones, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors.
Moscow battered Ukraine's power grid again and Ukrainian forces hit another of Russia's biggest oil refineries , officials said Monday, hours before delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were due to meet for new U.S.-brokered talks on how to end the fighting .Nearly five years after Russia invaded its neighbor , the two countries remain locked in battle with no sign that either side is ready to budge from their demands.
The war has already killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians, analysts and humanitarian organizations say .The three-way talks between envoys from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are due to start in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday and last for two days. The previous round of talks was in February.
Canada's foreign minister on Monday hailed the importance of U.S.-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine this week in Abu Dhabi, saying it was "positive" that both sides were willing to discuss a settlement to end the war.
"It has been some time since the parties have come to the table and so I want to underline the importance of the meeting in Abu Dhabi," Anita Anand told AFP on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris.
"I have confidence in the fact that the parties are willing to discuss a potential settlement in a way that has not occurred for weeks, so that is a positive," she said.