Selenskyj: Negotiations in Abu Dhabi on the Donbass issue

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists about the negotiations in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). At the talks this Friday and on Saturday, the three sides would present and discuss their views on the problem. According to his advisor Dmytro Lytvyn, the talks in the United Arab Emirates are due to begin in the evening. Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for almost four years.

Washington has been urging the warring parties Russia and Ukraine to find a peace solution for months. Among other things, Moscow is laying claim to the entire eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, of which it only controls just under 80 percent. Kiev has so far rejected a voluntary withdrawal. The Donetsk region and the neighboring Luhansk region, which Russian troops control almost completely, are referred to as Donbass.

Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, also commented on this issue following talks between the US negotiators in the Kremlin on Friday night. Without a solution to the territorial issue, there will be no lasting peace, he told the Russian state news agency Tass. And as long as there is no peace solution, Russia will continue the fighting.

What was the "Anchorage formula"?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the territorial issues should be resolved in accordance with the Anchorage agreements. However, he did not want to say what this "Anchorage formula" looked like. "We don't think it's appropriate," he said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Putin and US President Donald Trump met in Anchorage, Alaska, last August. Nothing was announced afterwards that suggested an agreement had been reached. However, Russian representatives repeatedly refer to the alleged summit outcome. Unofficially, a proposal was circulating that Ukraine should vacate the Donbass and freeze the front further south in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.

Peskov now said: "Russia's position is known that Ukraine and the Ukrainian armed forces must leave the Donbass region. They must be withdrawn from there." There are also further details.

Regarding the course of the planned talks in Abu Dhabi, the Kremlin spokesperson said that the start would depend on the arrival of the delegations. Negotiations would take place today and, if necessary, tomorrow. Representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense had been sent to the security working group - the head of the GRU military intelligence service, Igor Kostyukov, is well known. Negotiators Steve Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev were to discuss bilateral economic issues between the USA and Russia.