High-level trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi teeter on the brink of collapse as Moscow demands total surrender of the Donbas, shattering faint hopes for a ceasefire.

The first face-to-face negotiations involving envoys from Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington since February 2022 were meant to be a breakthrough. Instead, they have exposed the yawning chasm between the belligerents. While the UAE hosts attempted to foster an atmosphere of diplomacy, the reality on the ground—and at the table—remained brutal.

The Donbas Deadlock

Sources inside the negotiation room report that Russian General Igor Kostyukov, head of the GRU, arrived with a single, non-negotiable demand: the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donbas region. This maximalist position, essentially asking Kyiv to capitulate, was dead on arrival for the Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov.

"Russia is not looking for peace; they are looking for surrender," said a US diplomat briefed on the talks. "They want land that they could not take by force to be given to them by signature."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, monitoring from Kyiv, reiterated that territorial integrity is a red line. "We cannot trade our land for a temporary truce," he stated. "The issue of Donbas is the issue of our existence."

• The US Role: US envoy Steve Witkoff is frantically trying to salvage the talks, proposing "iterations" of solutions, but optimism is fading fast.
• The Reality: While diplomats talk in air-conditioned suites in Abu Dhabi, Russian missiles continue to pound Ukrainian energy grids, killing civilians.

A War of Attrition

The stark reality is that neither side is ready to blink. For Putin, the Donbas is a trophy he needs to justify the war. For Ukraine, it is the heartland they cannot amputate. The Abu Dhabi talks, rather than bringing peace, have only clarified the price of the war: it will not end until one side is broken.

As the delegations break for the night, the mood is somber. The world hoped for a white smoke; all they got was the fog of war.