The next round of peace negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine will take place Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday—just hours after a Russian drone killed 15 miners on a bus in eastern Ukraine.

The talks had been expected to begin Sunday but were postponed after American and Russian officials met privately in Florida the day before. Zelenskyy did not explain the delay. Neither Moscow nor Washington confirmed the new schedule.

"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion," Zelenskyy said. "We are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war."

Nearly four years into the conflict, that outcome remains elusive. The Trump administration says a deal is close. The battlefield suggests otherwise.

Side Talks in Florida

Saturday's meeting in Miami brought together Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin's top envoy and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, with a heavyweight American delegation: presidential peace envoy Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Jared Kushner, and White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum.

No Ukrainians were in the room.

Dmitriev called the session "constructive." Witkoff said he was "encouraged that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine." Neither side disclosed what, exactly, was discussed.

Zelenskyy said Kyiv had stayed in contact with American officials and was waiting for a readout. His negotiating team, he added, would leave for Abu Dhabi Monday evening. February, he predicted, would bring "quite intense foreign policy activity."

The Florida gathering fit a pattern that has defined the Trump administration's approach: shuttle diplomacy conducted largely on American terms, with Ukraine often learning the details after the fact. Whether that approach can bridge the vast gap between Moscow and Kyiv is the question hanging over this week's talks.

The Problem Nobody Can Solve

Territory. That single word has stalled every negotiation since the war began.

Russian forces occupy roughly a fifth of Ukraine. Moscow wants more—specifically, full control of the Donetsk region, including areas its troops have never captured. The Kremlin has made clear it will take the land by force if talks collapse.

Zelenskyy has refused to bargain away territory his soldiers have bled to defend. He has warned that any concession would reward aggression and invite a future invasion. For many Ukrainians, ceding ground to Russia is not a negotiating position. It is capitulation.

The first trilateral meeting, held in Abu Dhabi in late January, produced agreement on most secondary issues. But on territory—the only issue that truly matters—the two sides did not budge.

Zelenskyy said last week that American oversight would be essential to any deal. "Much depends on what the U.S. can achieve," he said Sunday, "so that people trust both the process and the outcome."

Trust, at the moment, is in short supply.

A Ceasefire That Wasn't

President Trump announced Thursday that Vladimir Putin had personally agreed to pause strikes on Kyiv and other cities for a week. The weather was brutal—temperatures had plunged below minus 30 Celsius in parts of the country—and the gesture was meant to show goodwill ahead of negotiations.

The Kremlin confirmed a limited version of the agreement: no attacks on energy infrastructure until Sunday. It said nothing about other targets.

Whatever pause existed ended with the weekend.

Early Sunday, a Russian drone struck a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia. Six people were wounded, including two women undergoing examinations at the time. Regional officials reported a second strike on a residential neighborhood shortly after.

Then came the miners.

A drone hit a company bus transporting workers from a DTEK coal mine in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Fifteen were killed. Seven more were wounded. The bus was traveling near Ternivka, about 40 miles from the front line.

DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, accused Russia of carrying out "a large-scale terrorist attack." Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal called it "a cynical and targeted attack on energy sector workers."

Zelenskyy, in his evening address, was blunt: "Evil must be stopped."

Ukraine's air force reported that Russia launched 90 drones overnight. Seventy-six were intercepted. Fourteen struck across nine locations. In Dnipro, a man and woman were killed when a drone hit their apartment building.

Moscow's Confidence

If the strikes suggested anything about Moscow's posture heading into talks, Dmitry Medvedev made it explicit.

The former Russian president, now deputy chairman of the country's Security Council, told reporters Sunday that Russia would achieve military victory "soon." He praised Trump as a peacemaker but left little doubt about the Kremlin's expectations.

"It is equally important to think about what will happen next," Medvedev said. "After all, the goal of victory is to prevent new conflicts."

The comments reflected a Russian leadership that believes time is on its side. Its forces have made grinding but steady gains in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv, meanwhile, faces manpower shortages, ammunition constraints, and a brutal winter that has tested civilian endurance.

Hundreds of buildings in the capital remain without power after repeated strikes on the grid. Railway workers are scrambling to restore connections between cities. The cold has turned inconvenience into crisis.

What Comes Next

Wednesday's session in Abu Dhabi will be the second trilateral meeting since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Zelenskyy has said this round may include military representatives from all three countries—a format not used in years.

Whether that signals progress or desperation depends on whom you ask. Washington insists a deal is within reach. Moscow speaks of imminent victory. Kyiv says it will not surrender land for a peace that invites the next war.

The miners buried this week will not see how it ends. Neither will the women wounded in a hospital examining room, nor the couple killed in their apartment while they slept.

The diplomats are set to meet Wednesday. Time will tell if progress will be made.