Move seen as major step of rapprochement
\n ABU DHABI
\nRussia and the United States have agreed to resume high-level military contacts at two-day Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, in a major step of rapprochement between the world\u2019s top nuclear powers.
\nMoscow and Washington suspended senior military dialogue shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with then US President Joe Biden severing almost all contact with Russia.
\nBut US President Donald Trump has restored communications with Moscow since he returned to the White House last year, holding several talks and a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
\nThe agreement to restore military contacts came after two days of talks between US, Russian and Ukrainian delegates in Abu Dhabi, searching for a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
\nThose negotiations resulted in the first prisoner exchange in four months, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the discussions complicated and urged faster progress.
\nIt was also announced hours after the New START treaty \u2014 the last nuclear agreement between Moscow and Washington \u2014 expired, triggering fears of a global arms race.
\n\u201cThe US and Russian Federation agreed today in Abu Dhabi to reestablish high level military-to-military dialogue,\u201d the US military\u2019s European Command said in a statement, adding that \u201cthe parties continue to work towards a lasting peace.\u201d
\n\u201cMaintaining dialogue between militaries is an important factor in global stability and peace, which can only be achieved through strength, and provides a means for increased transparency and de-escalation,\u201d it added.
\nMoscow had not commented on the announcement.
\n\u2018Not easy\u2019
\nMoscow and Kyiv agreed to swap more than 300 prisoners at the talks in Abu Dhabi, but there were no immediate signs of progress on the thornier issue of territory.
\n\u201cIt is certainly not easy, but Ukraine has been and will remain as constructive as possible,\u201d Zelensky said of the talks.
\n\u201cWe want faster results,\u201d he told a press conference in Kyiv, speaking alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
\nUS mediator Steve Witkoff conceded that \u201csignificant\u201d work still lay ahead in the quest for a broader deal to end the war, dimming hopes for a quick breakthrough.
\nThe negotiations are the latest bid in diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting \u2014 Europe\u2019s deadliest conflict since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed, millions forced to flee their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine left decimated.
\nAs talks were underway, large swathes of the Ukrainian capital were still without heating in sub-zero temperatures, after successive Russian strikes knocked out energy supplies to hundreds of apartment blocks.
\nKyiv\u2019s mayor Vitali Klitschko warned that more than 1,000 apartment blocks could be without heating for two months after a Russian strike earlier this week destroyed a critical power station.
\nTerritory deadlock
\nThe main sticking point in the negotiations is the long-term fate of territory in eastern Ukraine.
\nMoscow is demanding that Kyiv pull its troops out of swathes of the Donbas, including heavily fortified cities atop vast natural resources, before any deal.
\nIt also wants international recognition that land seized in the invasion belongs to Russia.
\nKyiv has said the conflict should be frozen along the current front line and has rejected a pull-back of forces.
\nTrump has been pushing both sides to negotiate an end to the war since he returned to office, boasting he could strike a deal in hours.
\nZelensky said the US president\u2019s role was crucial, telling French television in an interview broadcast Wednesday that \u201cPutin is only scared of Trump\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Move seen as major step of rapprochement ABU DHABI Russia and the United States have agreed to resume high-level military contacts at two-day Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, in a major step of rapprochement between the world\u2019s top nuclear powers. Moscow and Washington suspended senior military dialogue shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-529907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n