Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, after two days of "constructive" peace talks in Abu Dhabi, are set to resume negotiations in the United Arab Emirates capital next week, even as the war itself showed no signs of letup.
On January 23-24, "the United States coordinated a trilateral meeting alongside Ukraine and Russia, graciously hosted by the United Arab Emirates," White House envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on X.
"Talks were very constructive, and plans were made to continue conversations next week in Abu Dhabi. President [Donald] Trump and his entire team are dedicated to bringing peace to this war," he added.
Witkoff did not specify an exact schedule for resumption of the talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was briefed by his team on the talks and also labeled the negotiations as constructive, although no details of the sessions were disclosed.
The "military personnel involved in the negotiations have created a list of topics for a possible new meeting," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy traveled to Lithuania on January 25 to meet President Gitanas Nausėda and Polish President Karol Nawrocki to seek military and humanitarian aid as well as diplomatic support for ongoing peace efforts.
The three leaders are taking part in commemorations marking the 1863–64 uprising against imperial Russian rule, an event widely seen as a pivotal moment of resistance to Moscow's westward expansion.
Ahead of the negotiations in the UAE, Kremlin aides said Russian President Vladimir Putin was satisfied with nearly four hours of talks held overnight with Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and other US representatives.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia's longstanding demand that Ukrainian forces leave the portion of the Donbas they still hold. The Donbas is a wide swath of territory in eastern Ukraine; Russia controls around 90 percent of it.
Zelenskyy, who met with Trump in Switzerland on January 22, has long rejected the suggestion of ceding territory to Russia but told reporters that the UAE talks would include the issue of territory in the Donbas.
Warring Parties Continue To Strike
As the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of February 2022 nears, violence on the ground continued even amid the peace talks.
Following its massive air strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv, Russia on January 24 claimed to have captured another key village, while Ukraine reportedly struck back in Russia’s Belgorod border region.
Russia's military said its troops had completed the capture of the village of Starytsya in the Kharkiv region, where Ukraine has been struggling to fend off a ground offensive amid heavy losses on both sides.
Starytsya, a settlement of some 486 people near the border, is close to the town of Vovchansk, which has been bloodied and battered for months amid desperate defenses since an offensive launched by Russia in May 2024.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on Russia's claim, but its General Staff said the Kremlin's forces had launched six attacks on an area including Starytsya. The reports could not be independently verified.
Russia's Westward Push
Russia has been attempting to push westward through eastern Ukraine to gain as much ground as possible amid peace negotiations. Much of its gains have been in the Donetsk region, although it has kept the pressure on in the Kharkiv region as well.
As Russia continues its nightly air strikes against Ukrainian cities, often hitting residential areas and infrastructure sites, Kyiv has struck back at energy-related facilities inside Russia that it says are used to fuel the Kremlin's war effort.
Russia's Belgorod region has often been the target of Ukrainian strikes and was the target of a Ukrainian ground offensive in May 2023. It was reportedly hit again late on January 24.
"According to our information, a massive shelling of the city of Belgorod [has been carried out]," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram, adding that there were no immediate reports of injuries.
"There is damage to energy facilities. We are collecting information, and emergency services are at the scene."
Telegram channels from the region reported that the shelling had lasted for a long period of time and that explosions were heard in Belgorod, a city of some 320,000 people.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the reports of strikes against the Belgorod region.
Kyiv, Kharkiv Hit by Russian Strikes
Earlier on January 24, Ukraine condemned a massive Russian attack overnight and into January 24 on the capital, Kyiv, and on Kharkiv, with at least one person being killed.
According to local officials, both cities were hit with Russian missile and drone barrages through the early morning hours and later in the day on January 24 and the following night as Russia continues nightly air strikes.
During a visit to Vilnius on January 25, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his call for faster deliveries of air-defense systems and ammunition from allies, including both weapons already promised and new commitments.
He said the equipment is urgently needed to protect Ukraine’s critical infrastructure during the winter freeze. Earlier this week, the Kyiv government pointed out that every electric power plant in the country had been targeted by Russian strikes.
"Cynically, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin ordered a brutal, massive missile strike against Ukraine right while delegations are meeting in Abu Dhabi to advance the America-led peace process," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X.
"Main targets remained the same: energy objects and residential areas. Russia continues to wage a genocidal war against civilian people, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity," he wrote.
By early January 25, officials said more than 1,600 buildings in Kyiv remained without heating, down from 6,000 a day earlier, as night-time temperatures fell to minus-10 degrees Celsius.
Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said more than 800,000 Kyiv homes and a further 400,000 in the Chernihiv region, north of the capital, were still without power late on January 24.
"As for power, constant enemy attacks unfortunately keep the situation from being stabilized," he wrote on telegram. "The power system does not have time to recover," he added.
In Kharkiv, a nighttime drone attack injured 27 people on January 24, according to regional head Oleh Synyehubov. City Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack lasted nearly 2-1/2 hours, with one of the drones striking a dormitory for disabled people, and other strikes damaging a hospital and a maternity hospital.
"Unfortunately, a 68-year-old woman died in the hospital, who was wounded as a result of an enemy [drone] strike near the village of Prudyanka," Synyehubov wrote on Telegram.
