Talks on Russia-Ukraine War to Resume  02/03 06:26

   A new round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending Russia's war on Ukraine is set 
to go ahead this week after a brief postponement, a senior Kremlin official 
said Monday, with negotiations taking place against a backdrop of continued 
front-line fighting and deadly long-range attacks on rear areas.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- A new round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending Russia's 
war on Ukraine is set to go ahead this week after a brief postponement, a 
senior Kremlin official said Monday, with negotiations taking place against a 
backdrop of continued front-line fighting and deadly long-range attacks on rear 
areas.

   The trilateral talks will take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi, 
where a previous meeting was held last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov 
confirmed.

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he would be 
sending a delegation to the meeting, which initially was to be held at the 
weekend but was delayed by what Peskov said were scheduling conflicts.

   The Trump administration has over the past year pushed the two sides to find 
compromises. But breaking the deadlock on key issues appears no closer as the 
fourth anniversary of Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbor approaches 
later this month.

   Peskov described the talks as "very complex."

   "On some issues, we have certainly come closer because there have been 
discussions, conversations, and on some issues it is easier to find common 
ground," he told reporters. "There are issues where it's more difficult to find 
common ground."

   Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev was in Miami, Florida, at the 
weekend for talks with American officials, but Peskov refused to provide any 
details of the meeting.

   A key sticking point is whether Russia gets to keep the Ukrainian territory 
its army has occupied, especially in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland. 
Moscow is also demanding possession of other Ukrainian land there that it 
hasn't been able to capture.

   Russian drones and missiles have continued to bombard civilian areas , 
killing 12 miners in a bus on Sunday in the most recent mass aerial attack. The 
barrages have also wrecked the Ukrainian power grid, leaving people without 
heating, light and running water in bitter winter cold.

   Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Monday that authorities are taking 
steps to prevent Russia using Starlink satellite services to steer its drones 
toward their targets.

   Fedorov asked Elon Musk's SpaceX to help deny Russia use of the service in 
Ukraine. Starlink is a global internet network that relies on around 10,000 
satellites orbiting Earth.

   Ukraine is requiring civilian and military Starlink users to register their 
terminals on a database, allowing approved devices to function while 
unregistered terminals would be disabled inside Ukraine, Fedorov said.

   "Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by 
Russia have worked," Musk said Sunday on X. "Let us know if more needs to be 
done."