War

Ukraine, negotiations and raids continue. Rutte: only US weapons help Kiev

Russian Dmitriev attacks Zelensky: he does not accept territorial concessions and thus delays the peace process

26 January 2026

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Tende riscaldate a Kiev contro l’emergenza che ha lasciato almeno 600 palazzi residenziali senza riscaldamento e acqua e elettricità dopo i raid russi EPA/MAXYM MARUSENKO

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

the talks between the Russian, Ukrainian, and American delegations, which were held last week in Abu Dhabi, took place "in a constructive spirit," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov assured on Monday. However, "it would be wrong to expect significant results after these initial contacts," Peskov warned, quoted by Russian news agencies, stressing that "there is still a lot of work to be done" to reach a solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky also spoke of 'constructive talks' about the negotiations in Abu Dhabi that will resume this week. In a post on X, Zelensky returned to outline the highlights that emerged from the trilateral talks with the US and Russia in the Emirates, following the Ukrainian delegation's report. "The meetings addressed a number of important issues, mainly military, which are essential for ending the conflict. Complex political issues that remain unresolved were also discussed. The key positions of all sides were analysed." He added: "I outlined the framework for further diplomatic work. Preparations are now underway for new trilateral meetings this week'.

Meanwhile in Brussels, NATO Secretary Mark Rutte made it clear how important US aid is for Ukraine. "Europe is now building its own defence industry, and that is vital. But at the moment it cannot provide nearly everything Ukraine needs to defend itself today and to deter tomorrow'. US military support is indispensable: 'Without this flow of armaments from the US, we cannot keep Ukraine fighting. Literally,' Rutte said in a hearing at the European Parliament's Security and Defence Committee.

Moscow conditions

Russia has made it clear that it is in no hurry to lay down its arms and, above all, its conditions have not changed: the sticking point will have to be the so-called Anchorage formula, i.e. the understanding on territories outlined at the Trump-Putin summit in August, and in any case the 'long' negotiations will not have the input of the European Union, where 'incompetent officials' such as the 'head of diplomacy Kaja Kallas' abound, Peskov said yesterday.

Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and director of the Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund, later wrote on X: 'Zelensky's speech to the Europeans in Davos was a failure. His delay in accepting territorial concessions is delaying the peace process'.

There is a heavy absence at the negotiating table in Abu Dhabi. This was stated by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul commenting on the possibility of direct talks between Ukraine and Russia with US mediation: "Europe must sit at the negotiating table when the interests of the entire continent and our security are at stake," reads the statement the minister issued before leaving for a trip that will take him to Latvia and Sweden.

The Russian raids

On the battlefield, hostilities do not cease. The authorities in Kiev accused Russia of launching a new wave of attacks, firing 138 kamikaze drones at Ukrainian territory last night. In a note, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched attacks 'from different directions', pointing out that 110 unmanned aircraft were shot down by air defence systems. However, Kiev confirmed 21 impacts in "11 locations", as well as the fall of fragments from an intercepted drone in another area of the country, without giving details of any casualties or damage. "The attack is ongoing, as numerous enemy drones are still in the airspace," the Air Force warned, urging the population to "respect safety regulations".

Due to Russian raids on Ukrainian energy facilities overnight, the inhabitants of the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were left without electricity. This was stated on Telegram by the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy. Significant power shortages remain in Kiev and its region, the ministry added, reported by Rc. The situation remains critical, with emergency outages in place.

On the Russian side, the governor of the Russian Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, reported that 24 drones of the Ukrainian armed forces were shot down in the last 24 hours. 'Between 9am on 25 January and 7am on 26 January twenty-four hostile drones of various types were shot down and the enemy launched 30 artillery attacks on the districts that were evacuated,' the Kursk governor wrote on Telegram. Khinshtein pointed out that a drone wounded two people in the village of Krupets, in the Rylsk district: a 63-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man, who suffered concussions. In Slavyansk-on-Kuban, in Russia's Krasnodar region, debris from a drone that fell on business premises injured one person. This was reported by the Krasnodar Territory Operations Headquarters on Telegram, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

An oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, also in Russia's Krasnodar region, was hit in an attack allegedly conducted by Kiev, Ukrainian media report, citing Russian sources and a source linked to the government of Volodymyr Zelensky. The Kiev Independent, citing Russian media, says the facility was hit with drones. The attack was confirmed by the head of the Central Directorate of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council, Andry Kovalenko, quoted by Ukrinform.

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