Russia weighs halt to talks unless Ukraine cedes territory
KYIV: Russian officials increasingly see little reason to continue US-led peace talks with Ukraine unless Kyiv signals it is prepared to give up territory as part of a settlement, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Talks scheduled for next week will be critical to determining whether the sides can move towards an agreement to end the war, the report said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that the time and place of the next round of peace talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine would depend on the security situation in the Middle East and the level of “real diplomatic possibilities”.
Zelenskiy said he would issue fresh directives to Ukraine’s negotiating team at the talks, without detailing what they were.
On Thursday, he had said the next round of talks would probably take place in Abu Dhabi in early March. However, the UAE has since been caught up in hostilities after the US and Israel launched aerial attacks on Iran.
Ukraine’s state oil and gas major Naftogaz said Russia struck its gas extraction facility in the eastern region of Kharkiv overnight, causing serious damage.
“There is serious damage to the equipment, and depressurisation has occurred. Colleagues on site have localised the situation as quickly and professionally as possible,” Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi wrote on Facebook.
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2026
