US-facilitated peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have begun in the United Arab Emirates, hours after Russian forces again struck targets across Ukraine.
Direct negotiations involving Moscow and Kyiv, along with US representatives, resumed in Abu Dhabi on January 23-24. Meetings between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have been rare since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of February 2022.
Ukraine's top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, confirmed on X that the negotiations had begun, saying negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States kicked off the meeting in a trilateral format.
"Next comes work in separate groups by specific tracks, after which a follow-up joint synchronization of positions is planned," he added.
According to earlier media reports citing an unnamed White House official, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will represent the United States at the negotiations with Ukraine and Russia.
Hopes for any breakthrough to end the war as its fourth anniversary approaches later this month are dim, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters early on February 4 that Russia's position in the talks remains unchanged and that it is "absolutely clear and well understood by both Kyiv and the American negotiators."
Ukrainian political analyst Ihor Reiterovych, speaking to Current Time, warned the United States may underestimate Russian ambitions, saying there is "absolutely no guarantee" Putin will stop after gaining part of Ukraine.
Reiterovych urged stronger security guarantees for Ukraine, arguing they must be "written not like the Budapest Memorandum," referring to the 1994 agreement signed by the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom that guaranteed Ukrainian territorial integrity in exchange for Kyiv agreeing to eliminate its entire nuclear arsenal.
SEE ALSO: Russian Strikes On Ukraine Test Diplomacy As US Congress Presses For ActionThe talks come just hours after Russia's massive missile and drone strikes that hit Ukrainian capital and other regions across the country, underscoring what Ukrainian officials have described as a familiar Kremlin tactic of using diplomacy to buy time while intensifying strikes in what is already Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II.
Strikes Continue As Talks Resume
Russian forces launched over 100 drones on Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Forces reported on February 4.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, two people were killed and two more were wounded as a result of a drone attack, according to the regional authorities.
"A 68-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man were killed" in the attack on Dnipropetrovsk region, Mykola Lukashuk, the head of the regional administration, wrote on Telegram.
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Odesa Residents Dance To Warm Up As DJ Plays During Air Raid Warnings
In the southern region of Odesa, at least five people were injured in an overnight Russian attack, the regional authorities reported, adding that houses, kindergartens, and a school were damaged.