Kyiv Hit as Abu Dhabi Talks Face Donbass Deadlock (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: The Ukrainian foreign minister has strongly criticized Russian airstrikes on the country overnight, which killed at least one person and injured 15 others. Officials said the country was under air raid alert and warned of drones and ballistic missiles. In the capital Kiev, the city's mayor, Vitaly Klitschko, said that nearly 6,000 buildings were left without heating. Military bases were also struck. Ukraine's foreign minister said the missiles had hit not only the Ukrainian people, but also the negotiation table. Talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine are resuming in Abu Dhabi. They're the first three-way talk since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago. One of the key issues is the question of territory. Before the full-scale invasion began in 2022, Russia had annexed just Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine. But since then, Russia has taken much more of the country. The future of Ukraine's Donbass region remains the key sticking point in these talks. Our Eastern Europe correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, reports from Kiev.

[00:01:06] Speaker 2: The format for these talks is new. The delegates are senior. But the starting positions haven't changed and they don't bode well for any breakthrough to peace. Because Russia is still demanding Kiev surrender the rest of the eastern Donbass, land Ukraine's troops have been defending for years. And for Kiev, that's impossible.

[00:01:29] Speaker 3: It is still too early to draw conclusions. We will see how the conversation goes tomorrow and what the results will be. But it needs not only Ukraine to want to end this war. It needs Russia to show a similar desire.

[00:01:45] Speaker 2: Instead, Russia is doing this. Destroying power plants across Ukraine that should supply homes, hospitals and schools. Round-the-clock repairs can't keep up. And this week, it's minus 11 in Kiev. There's talk of a humanitarian catastrophe here. The attacks on the power supply in Ukraine have been so extensive that when night falls now, there are really big areas of Kiev, just like this one, where the lights don't come on anymore. There's no heat either in people's homes. It is really debilitating. And that's why so few Ukrainians really believe Vladimir Putin can want peace when he's doing things like this. So families now huddle in heated tents in the yards of their flats. Lydia hasn't had electricity for five days. This place is a lifeline. But I ask her about doing a deal with Vladimir Putin. And she tells me Ukrainians curse him in their hearts. People here do want peace. They're exhausted. But not peace at any cost. Even if they're being frozen in their own homes as punishment. Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, Kiev.

[00:03:07] Speaker 1: Our correspondent, Abduljalil Abdulrazalov, is in Kiev for more on this.

[00:03:12] Speaker 4: The expectations here in Ukraine about this meeting in Abu Dhabi is quite low because few people believe that it would produce serious results because the main issue, the issue of territory, is still remaining and it appears to be that the positions of both Russia and Ukraine on this issue is irreconcilable. Russia wants the part of eastern Ukraine, the area called Donbass, to be given to it and Ukraine says that they've been defending that land for years and they cannot give it up without any fight and this is the red line that they will not cross. And even though President Zelensky says that this is the last mile in the negotiations and earlier Donald Trump mentioned that 95% of the deal has been agreed, one diplomat told me that unless everything is agreed, nothing is agreed. So unless the issue of territory is resolved, there is no deal and therefore there won't be any peace. And that's why a lot of people here in Ukraine think that Russia needs to show that they want to end the war and this meeting is exactly about that for them. However, when Russia launches aerial attacks almost every day, for them it sends a signal that Russia has no intentions of doing that and overnight they launched more than 20 missiles, including ballistic missiles and about 375 drones targeting different areas across Ukraine and at least one person was killed in Kiev and now many areas in Kiev now have no running water, they have no heating and there is an emergency power plant introduced across the country because the energy grid is already operating at its limits because all these attacks, they target the energy facilities in Kiev and other parts of Ukraine.

[00:05:06] Speaker 1: And as you say, we've been here before when it comes to talks, trying to find a resolution. What concessions do you think Ukraine and Russia may make this time?

[00:05:20] Speaker 4: Well, it is hard to say because, as I said, the position of Kiev and Moscow on this issue and the issue of territory has proven to be irreconcilable. Moscow insists that there is no deal unless that area is given to them, that they want that part of Donetsk and Lugansk regions to be given to Russia. And without this, there is no agreement for them. And they repeatedly stated that and President Zelensky and the Ukrainian officials insist that any territorial swaps, any agreements on the territory can be done only if there is a referendum and the people of Ukraine agree on those terms. But in order to have a referendum, in order to have any elections here, there must be a ceasefire. And this is something Russia is not willing to do as well. They are saying that there will be a ceasefire only once there is a peace deal. And Ukraine says in order to have a peace deal, there must be a referendum. So we go back to the square one again, that both sides remain in their positions and it appears that at this stage, at least, there is unlikely to be any serious progress.