US-mediated talks with Russia and Ukraine to start in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI: Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States will hold talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (Nov 10) on ending Europe's worst conflict since World War II in the first such meeting in more than nine months, as another winter of war approaches.

Europe - alarmed by US President Donald Trump floating a deal with Moscow on European security ahead of the talks - will also send representatives to Abu Dhabi.

Trump has pushed for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war since returning to power, but previous talks produced no breakthroughs and the process became sidelined by the US-Israeli war against Iran.  

Europe and Ukraine fear the United States will force a deal on Kyiv that would amount to a de-facto capitulation, with Trump appearing to pivot towards Moscow this year.

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and has dragged on for 56 months, with the Kremlin showing no sign of backing down.

Trump hinted Ukraine will have to give up land ahead of the talks, saying: "They're going to end up with a little bit different shape, Ukraine."

Russia occupies large swathes of Ukraine but, while its troops have grinded westwards, they have not been able to seize the whole of the Donetsk region.  

Moscow demands Kyiv surrender the parts of the region it still controls, vowing it will otherwise press on with its offensive.  

Ukraine - which for more than 4.5 years has resisted a far larger invading army at a huge human cost - has ruled out such a withdrawal. 

Russia pummelled Ukraine in the run-up to the talks and carried out one of its deadliest strikes yet - with Kyiv saying 55 people were killed in a frontline village as they queued for humanitarian aid. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the intensified strikes were part of Moscow's strategy of "putting pressure on Ukraine's position" at the negotiations. 

Russia's Vladimir Putin, who launched the war in February 2022, has repeatedly refused broader ceasefire offers and face-to-face talks with Zelenskyy.