Russia launched 375 drones and 21 missiles on Saturday against Ukraine, causing millions to lose power in the middle of winter, the embattled country said. The attack occurred on the second day of Ukrainian, Russian, and American diplomats meeting in Abu Dhabi for trilateral peace talks.
“Peace efforts? Trilateral meeting in the UAE? Diplomacy? For Ukrainians, this was another night of Russian terror,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. “Cynically, Putin ordered a brutal massive missile strike against Ukraine right while delegations are meeting in Abu Dhabi to advance the America-led peace process. His missiles hit not only our people, but also the negotiation table.”
The strike’s targets included Kyiv and Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city after the capital. Ukraine says that the main targets of the attack were civilian electrical infrastructure and residential areas.
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The peace talks in Abu Dhabi are based on a joint 20-point peace plan crafted by the United States and Ukraine. Discussions could focus on territorial control in the Donbas, the eastern region of Ukraine where much of the war’s fighting has occurred, a central concern for both sides.
“The central focus of the discussions was the possible parameters for ending the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X. “I highly value the understanding of the need for American monitoring and oversight of the process of ending the war and ensuring genuine security.”
Present at the meeting are Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who flew to Abu Dhabi from Moscow after conducting negotiations with the Kremlin. Ukraine is sending its top diplomatic team, including Zelensky’s new chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov.
The Ukrainian president heavily criticized European countries at Davos on Friday, citing their inability to take Russia’s threat to continental security seriously and build up their armed forces.
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“Europe loves to discuss the future, but avoids taking action today, action that defines what kind of future we will have. That is the problem,” he said. Zelensky likened discussions with European leaders to increase their militaries to “the great American film Groundhog Day.”
Ukraine has faced an onslaught of Russian attacks on its power grid this winter, similar to previous years in the war. After being asked about previous Russian attacks on Ukrainian electrical infrastructure, Witkoff said, “Well, first of all, they’re in a war, and so they’re shooting at each other. And we don’t condone that. We think it’s unfortunate.”