ABU DHABI — Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States gathered in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, seeking to advance talks on how to end the four-year Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The planned two-day negotiations started with all three delegations present, after which negotiators will break into groups according to topics and then meet as a full group again at the end.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said on Wednesday that the latest round of peace talks will focus on military issues.

The Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "the doors for a peaceful settlement are open", but noted that Moscow will press its military action until Kyiv meets its demands.

Several rounds of diplomacy among the three countries have failed to strike a deal on ending the conflict, which began in February 2022.

Officials have described recent talks between Moscow and Kyiv delegations as constructive. But after a year of efforts, the parties are still searching for a breakthrough.

Conflicts, however, have continued in the run-up to the talks. Russia's defense ministry confirmed it had launched "a massive strike" against "Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises and energy facilities".

The bombardment included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, wounding at least 10 people. It specifically took aim at the power grid, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Tuesday's strike on Ukraine's battered energy facilities was "the most powerful" since the start of 2026, the country's largest energy provider DTEK confirmed.

"A 68-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man were killed" in the attack, Mykola Lukashuk, the head of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, said on Telegram.

At the same time, Russian authorities said that Ukrainian shelling had killed three people in the town of Nova Kakhovka.

The Kremlin-installed authorities said the shelling hit a municipal building and a fruit shop.

"There are dead: three people, including an employee of the administration," Vladimir Saldo, head of the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region, said.

Saldo said the town was struck by Ukrainian artillery shelling early Tuesday, and released photographs showing blown-out windows and damaged cars.

Restart communication

French President Emmanuel Macron said preparations are being made to resume dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to reestablish a European channel of communication independent of the United States.

"It is important that Europeans restore their own channels of discussion," Macron said during a visit to northeastern France on Tuesday. "This is being prepared and discussions are taking place at a technical level."

Macron said preparations were being made "transparently" and in consultation with Zelensky and European allies, but did not specify any time frame.

He insisted that France continues to support Ukraine but said contact with the Kremlin was necessary to negotiate security guarantees after the conflict.

Reaching a peace deal to end the conflicts in Ukraine will require difficult decisions, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Mark Rutte said.

Speaking through a translator during an address to Ukraine's parliament in Kyiv, Rutte said the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List weapon-purchasing program is supplying about 90 percent of Ukraine's air defence missiles.

The current talks also coincide with the expiry of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States on Thursday.

Russia has said it is prepared for a new reality with no nuclear arms control limits as the New START treaty nears expiration this week. START stands for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by state news agency TASS that the absence of a response from Washington to Russian proposals amounted to an answer.

"The lack of an answer is also an answer," Ryabkov said.

Unless Moscow and Washington reach a last-minute bilateral understanding, the New START treaty, signed in 2010 by then US president Barack Obama and then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, will expire on Thursday.

The US has sought to craft a settlement between the two sides but the first round of trilateral talks held in Abu Dhabi last month failed to yield a breakthrough.

Russia has demanded that Kyiv withdraw from the Donetsk region.

Kyiv sees this as unacceptable.

Xinhua - Agencies