US, Russia, and Ukraine Peace Talks [EPA Yonhap News]

A trilateral meeting to discuss a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States, will resume in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on the 4th and 5th.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this on his social media on the 1st (local time), stating that he had received a report from his negotiation team.

President Zelensky wrote, "We are ready for substantive discussions," and "We hope to move closer to a dignified and real end to the war."

The trilateral talks were held twice in Abu Dhabi on the 23rd and 24th.

Russia demands that Ukraine completely withdraw from Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine), but Ukraine refuses.

Ukraine also finds it difficult to accept the US proposal to establish a so-called "free economic zone" in the Donetsk region, as it is premised on Ukrainian withdrawal.

Although no clear agreement has been reached in the meetings so far, expectations for peace are rising as the trilateral consultative body continues without disruption or suspension.

Both sides, with US mediation, briefly suspended attacks on energy facilities during the harsh winter, but attacks on urban areas and the front lines continue.

According to local authorities, two people were killed by Russian drone attacks in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in central Ukraine on the previous night. A maternity hospital in the southern region was also attacked, injuring six people.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on the same day that it had captured two villages in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine and struck infrastructure facilities.