Kremlin maintains that control of Donbas remains a core condition for any cease‑fire agreement with Ukraine. Following two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, Russian officials said that Russia will not accept any peace deal unless Kyiv cedes the entire Donbas region, which Moscow currently controls 90 % of. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov cited a supposed “Anchorage formula” - an agreement allegedly reached in August 2025 between former U.S. President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin - that would see Ukraine hand over Donbas to Russia and freeze front lines elsewhere in the east and south. Kyiv has repeatedly refused to relinquish territory that Moscow has not captured on the battlefield. The Abu Dhabi negotiations, which involved Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators, ended after three hours with Moscow describing the talks as “constructive”. A new round of talks is scheduled for February 1 in Abu Dhabi.

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