On eve of day two of talks in UAE capital, Russian attacks cut off about 1.2 million from power in sub-zero temperatures.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u00a0and Russia ended a\u00a0second day of United States-brokered talks<\/a> in Abu Dhabi without an agreement, but with the warring sides saying they were open to further dialogue, as Russian attacks on Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure continued.<\/p>\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X on Saturday that bilateral discussions focused on the \u201cparameters for ending the war, as well as the security conditions required to achieve this\u201d, and that further talks could take place as early as next week.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n The talks were attended by Ukraine\u2019s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov, and Russian military intelligence and army representatives, according to Zelenskyy. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were also present.<\/p>\n A\u00a0UAE government statement said talks were \u201cconstructive and positive\u201d, tackling \u201coutstanding elements\u201d of Washington\u2019s peace framework<\/a>, with \u201cdirect engagement\u201d between\u00a0Ukraine\u00a0and Russia, a rare event in the almost four-year-old war triggered by Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n The initial US draft drew heavy criticism in Kyiv and Western Europe for hewing too closely to Moscow\u2019s maximalist demands and territorial ambitions, while Russia rejected revised versions over proposals for stationing European peacekeepers in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Before the discussions, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia had not dropped its insistence on Ukraine withdrawing from its eastern area of Donbas<\/a>, the industrial heartland consisting of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.<\/p>\n While Russia controls all of Luhansk, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to surrender the remaining 20 percent it still holds in Donetsk.<\/p>\n Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera\u2019s Audrey MacAlpine said: \u201cWe \u2026 know that they were meant to be discussing what to do about the contested areas in Donbas and also about the possibility of a ceasefire on Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Cynical\u2019 attack during talks<\/p>\n On the eve of the second day of talks, Russia targeted Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure, cutting off about 1.2 million people from electricity in sub-zero temperatures, according to Ukraine\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba.<\/p>\n Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said drone attacks on Kyiv killed one person and wounded four others.<\/p>\n Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov said that drone attacks on Ukraine\u2019s second-largest city wounded 27 people.<\/p>\n Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who\u00a0was not at\u00a0the talks, accused Putin of acting \u201ccynically\u201d. \u201cHis missiles hit not only our people, but also the negotiation table,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis barbaric attack once again proves that Putin\u2019s place is not at [US President Donald Trump\u2019s] Board of Peace<\/a>, but in the dock of the special tribunal,\u201d Sybiha wrote on X.<\/p>\n