L to R: Ukraine, Russia, and US delegations at talks to end Moscow’s invasion, Abu Dhabi, February 4, 2026

EA-War and Politics 24 VideoCast: The Kremlin’s Window to “Break” Ukraine

Wednesday’s Coverage: 2nd Round of Ukraine-Russia-US Talks in Abu Dhabi

UPDATE 2315 GMT:

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson says Stockholm will send another €95 million in aid for Ukraine’s “immediate needs” on energy and heating infrastructure, including power generators.

Kristersson said he was “appalled by Russia’s destruction of Ukraine’s energy and heating infrastructure, deliberately causing a humanitarian crisis for Ukrainians this winter”.

“Sweden stands firmly by Ukraine’s side,” he assured.

UPDATE 2256 GMT:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denounced European leaders for “pathetic” comments suggesting they may contact Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov insisted that Russia is always willing to engage with “serious” attempts to restablish diplomatic channels.

French President Emmanuel Macron has indicated that Paris is looking to re-establish diplomatic contacts with Moscow.

Three officials said French said Emmanuel Bonne, the head of Macron’s diplomatic cell since 2019, met officials at the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Lavorov said of Macron’s statement that he might call Putin “someday”, “This is not serious diplomacy; it is pathetic. If you wish to call and discuss something seriously, then call.”

UPDATE 1654 GMT:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the second round of Ukraine-Russia-US talks were “not easy”. However, he insisted that Kyiv will remain constructive and seek a fair deal to end Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv, he said security guarantees for Ukraine will strengthen the security of Europe.

The President said Ukraine is ready to swap its drones for air defense missiles and Polish MiG-29 fighter jets. The two leaders also discussed the development of power grid connectivity.

Tusk said:

All decent people in the world cannot have the slightest doubt about whose side to stand on and whom to support, because by supporting Ukraine in its heroic resistance against senseless Russian aggression, we support everything that is good, right and true in the world.

He said Poland is preparing a new €47 million aid package for Ukraine, mainly with armored equipment.

He emphasized the European Union should put its effort into the negotiation process to make sure the deal to end Russia’s invasion is acceptable to Kyiv. Poland will block any attempts to pressure Ukraine into agreeing to a bad settlement.

UPDATE 1642 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed the release by Russia of 157 Ukrainians — 150 troops and seven civilians — in exchange for 157 Russian soldiers.

We will continue to work to release our people from captivity. We must bring everyone back—and we certainly will. We are working on every name so that each family can finally welcome their loved ones home.

Zelensky posted video of the returnees:

UPDATE 1209 GMT:

Despite a planned cutoff of Russian liquified natural gas, European markets increased their imports by 8% in January from Russia’s flagship export terminal.

Yamal LNG exported 1,690,517 metric tons last month.

The European Union has agreed to ban LNG imports by January 1, 2027 and all Russian gas by January 1, 2028.

The EU is still the biggest importer of Russian LNG, with member states taking €7.2 billion ($8.4 billion) in 2025.

UPDATE 1206 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is hosting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv:

UPDATE 1155 GMT:

Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff says Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 314 prisoners of war.

Witkoff said of the talks to end Russia’s invasion, “Discussions will continue, with additional progress anticipated in the coming weeks.”

UPDATE 1142 GMT:

Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has confirmed the deactivation of Starlink terminals used by Russia for drone attacks.

Fedorov approached Elon Musk to establish and verify “white lists” for the terminals. He said the list are updated once a day in a “very large-scale process”.

Musk posted, “Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked. Let us know if more needs to be done.”

The technology adviser to the Ukraine Defense Ministry, Serhii Beskrestnov, said the cutoff is having a “disastrous” impact on Russian forces: “All command of the troops has collapsed. Assault operations have been stopped in many areas.”

UPDATE 1136 GMT:

French President Emmanuel Macron’s envoy Emmanuel Bonne has held a series of face-to-face meetings with Russian officials”, report French newspaper l’Express and Bloomberg.

Bonne sat down with Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, according to the outlets.

The Kremlin neither confirmed nor deny that the talks took place, snapping that “French sources are very fond of leaking to the media”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine and Russia are discussing an exchange of prisoners of war amid “productive” trilateral talks with the US in Abu Dhabi.

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said:

We discussed the interim results of the negotiations for today. They will continue tomorrow. There will also be a significant step: we expect a POW exchange in the near future. Captives must be brought home.

The President gave no further details. Rustem Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation in Abu Dhabi, said earlier that the talks were “productive”: “We are working in the same formats as yesterday: trilateral consultations, group work, and further synchronization of positions.”

Beyond the talks, Zelensky spoke of measures to deal with Russia’s massive strikes on energy infrastructure, and called for further restrictions of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” circumventing sanctions on oil exports.

In an interview with France 2 television, Zelensky said around 55,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed with many more missing.

He emphasized, “If we lose this war, we simply lose our country’s independence,” adding that “Ukraine’s neighbors understand that they will be the first victims” of the Kremlin’s aggression and quest for expansion.

Vladimir Putin’s senior advisor Kirill Dmitriev posted about “positive movement forward” in the talks. However, his focus was on intimidating Ukraine’s European partners:

The warmongers from Europe, from Britain, are constantly trying to interfere with this process, constantly trying to meddle in it. And the more such attempts there are, the more we see that progress is definitely being made.