The Japan Times - Russia demands Ukraine's Donbas region ahead of Abu Dhabi talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said territory remained the key issue and would be on the agenda for the talks, which look set to be the first direct public negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv on a plan being pushed by US President Donald Trump to end the almost four-year-long war.

High-level teams from the three countries were headed for Abu Dhabi for the negotiations -- a day after US President Donald Trump met with Zelensky in Davos and hours after US envoy Steve Witkoff held late-night talks with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

While a diplomatic push to end Europe's worst conflict since World War II has gained pace in recent weeks, Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.

Russia, which launched its invasion in 2022, said Friday it was not dropping its maximalist demand that Kyiv withdraw from the eastern Donbas region -- a term deemed unacceptable to Ukraine.

"Russia's position is well known on the fact that Ukraine, Ukrainian armed forces, have to leave the territory of the Donbas. They must be withdrawn from there," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"This is a very important condition," he added.

Both sides say the fate of territory in Ukraine's east is one of the main outstanding issues in the search for a settlement to a war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and decimated eastern Ukraine.

"The Donbas is a key issue," Zelensky told reporters on Friday, ahead of the talks.

"God willing (the talks will lead) to ending the war," he added, before cautioning: "It could go differently, but it's a step."

The Ukrainian delegation is made up of Zelensky's new chief-of-staff Kyrylo Budanov, security chief Rustem Umerov, negotiator David Arakhamia and ground army chief Andriy Gnatov.

The Kremlin's delegation will be headed by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, adding Friday it was sending an all-military delegation and that "we will not give their names for now."

Witkoff is leading the US side, with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also due to take part in the talks.

The Ukrainian leader said he expects to hold a call with his teams "around 3-4 p.m" (1300-1400 GMT) ahead of the meeting.

- Russia says US talks 'useful' -

Russia's troops occupy around 20 percent of Ukraine.

Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to get full control of eastern Ukraine by force if talks fail.

Kyiv has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and says it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter Russia from launching a renewed assault.

Putin met with Witkoff, Kushner and White House advisor Josh Gruenbaum in the Kremlin for talks that lasted into the early hours of Friday.

After the meeting, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the talks were "useful in every respect".

"We are genuinely interested in resolving (the conflict) through political and diplomatic means," Ushakov insisted.

"Until that happens, Russia will continue to achieve its objectives... on the battlefield."

- 'Nearly, nearly' -

Zelensky said he and Trump had agreed on the issue of post-war security guarantees in Davos, where he said a draft deal to end the war was "nearly, nearly ready" and that he and Trump had agreed on the issue of post-war security guarantees.

Trump repeated on Wednesday his oft-stated belief that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal.

"I believe they're at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don't, they're stupid -- that goes for both of them," he said after delivering a speech at Davos.

But the issue of territory has been a sticking point all along, and significant distance remains between the sides.

Zelensky in December appeared to open the door to possible concessions, but said any agreement that involved ceding more land would need to be put to a public vote.

Ukraine and Europe have been scrambling for weeks to revise an original US proposal that adhered to many of Moscow's core demands.

Zelensky presented details of a new draft that appeared closer to Kyiv's position -- but it did not address the long-term issue of territory and Russia has indicated it was opposed to changing the terms.

Russian strikes this week have left most of Kyiv without electricity, with residents of 4,000 buildings without heat in sub-zero temperatures.

Y.Watanabe--JT