Abu Dhabi peace talks begin as strikes hit Ukraine again (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have begun the first of two more days of peace talks in Abu Dhabi, coordinated by the United States. President Zelensky has said Ukraine wants a real and dignified end to the war. But on the eve of the negotiations, Russia launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure, leaving large numbers of people without power. Mr Zelensky said Russia's strikes, despite agreeing an energy truce with the US, show that its word cannot be trusted. He's called for more pressure on Moscow to make it negotiate for peace, instead of pushing Ukraine to surrender. Our Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse gave us his analysis of the hopes for any progress at the talks today.

[00:00:41] Speaker 2: Little to none, if you're speaking to people in the freezing Kyiv temperatures this morning, you know, President Zelensky is talking about the need for his team to change their approach, as they once again meet their Russian counterparts under the supervision of the Emiratis and the Americans. But it's not clear what that change of approach could be. And if people are listening to this thinking, hang on, haven't we been here before? Well, we have. You know, it is true that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin did agree a brief pause in Russia's aerial bombardments of Ukraine on its energy infrastructure during this cold grip. But the moment the agreed timeframe passed last Sunday, you just need to look at the numbers around the latest attack. You know, we're talking about 450 drones reportedly being launched, dozens of ballistic missiles, people staying in tents within their apartments, just to try and keep warm in any way. And so it is notable, yes, that the dialogue is continuing. But it seems that the issue of Ukraine having to hand over more land to Russia is something Kyiv can't bat off. And equally, Russia is happy to keep fighting in the meantime. And so these continuing dynamics are something that Ukraine is only going to feel the pressure from really.

[00:02:13] Speaker 1: Yeah. And overshadowing these talks even further is Russia's threat to take even more territory if the talks fail.

[00:02:20] Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, if you look at its objective, that will be utterly unsurprising to those living on the front lines. I mean, we're talking about the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine. Ukraine still is keeping hold of around a fifth of it. It is true the Russians are grinding forward, but many estimates think that for Russia to take the remainder of the Donbass region, it would take another year and a half at least. And we are talking about cities that Ukraine has defended, defended successfully, cities that sit on hills. And so the idea that Kyiv would sign a bit of paper handing them over is something seen as a non-starter still in Ukraine, because they claim it would embolden Russia to go further. And it would, of course, give Russia a military advantage. But you're now hearing more senior American officials tout this idea that Ukraine should just cede this territory for now and revisit it at a later date. Well, you know, Ukraine only has to look at the past 12 years of Russian aggression to be confident of the idea that once Russia takes territory, it doesn't give it up.